1. A Victory Of Love - Alphaville2. Save Our Love (Razormaid! Mix) - Escape From N.Y.3. Hang On Now (Extended Mix) - Kajagoogoo4. Precious Little Diamond - Fox The Fox5. It's Alright (Remix) - Pet Shot Boys6. Snappy (The Spice Has Risen Mix) - Erasure7. Lucky Bag - Electronic8. Regret (Fire Island Mix) - New Order9. Lose Him (Razormaid! Mix) - I Start Counting10. Pretty Boys And Pretty Girls (Extended Mix) - Book Of Love11. I Don't Know Why - Red Flag12. Flexible (Remixed Extended) - Depeche Mode13. I Dream Myself Alive - a-ha14. Too Pieces - Yaz15. Space Age Love Song - A Flock Of SeagullsNotes and Other Random Things: Greetings, everyone! Back with another retro episode. Lots to like in this one with a few ultra-familiar ditties like "Space Age Love Song" by AFOS and "Regret" by New Order, some lesser-known, but great tracks from some brilliant albums like "Too Pieces" by Yaz and "I Dream Myself Alive" by a-ha, and one or two that you may not be familiar with like "Save Our Love" by Escape From N.Y. I've been really horrible about providing notes about the songs lately, but I'm doing what I can just to get new episodes up, which is really the point when all is said and done. Hope you like it! Happy Listening!

1. A Victory Of Love - Alphaville 2. Save Our Love (Razormaid! Mix) - Escape From N.Y. 3. Hang On Now (Extended Mix) - Kajagoogoo 4. Precious Little Diamond - Fox The Fox 5. It's Alright (Remix) - Pet Shot Boys 6. Snappy (The Spice Has Risen Mix) - Erasure 7. Lucky Bag - Electronic 8. Regret (Fire Island Mix) - New Order 9. Lose Him (Razormaid! Mix) - I Start Counting 10. Pretty Boys And Pretty Girls (Extended Mix) - Book Of Love 11. I Don't Know Why - Red Flag 12. Flexible (Remixed Extended) - Depeche Mode 13. I Dream Myself Alive - a-ha 14. Too Pieces - Yaz 15. Space Age Love Song - A Flock Of Seagulls Notes and Other Random Things:  Greetings, everyone! Back with another retro episode. Lots to like in this one with a few ultra-familiar ditties like "Space Age Love Song" by AFOS and "Regret" by New Order, some lesser-known, but great tracks from some brilliant albums like "Too Pieces" by Yaz and "I Dream Myself Alive" by a-ha, and one or two that you may not be familiar with like "Save Our Love" by Escape From N.Y.  I've been really horrible about providing notes about the songs lately, but I'm doing what I can just to get new episodes up, which is really the point when all is said and done. Hope you like it! Happy Listening!

Episode 2: CRC Retro Mix #56

1. Pedestrian's Adventures - Camouflage2. Deeper And Deeper (Long Version) - The Fixx3. A Little Respect (12" Remix UK) - Erasure4. Relax (New York Mix) - Frankie Goes To Hollywood5. Date Stamp - ABC6. Pleasure Boys (Razormaid! Mix) - Visage7. Who'll Stop The Rain? (Special Dance Mix) - Heaven 178. Confusion - New Order9. American - Soviets (Cameron Paul Mix) - C.C.C.P.10. Brave New World (Razormaid! Mix) - Moskwa TV11. All Day - Ministry12. Behind The Wheel (Shep Pettibone Remix) - Depeche Mode13. Planet Earth (Night Mix) - Duran Duran14. The Things That Dreams Are Made Of - The Human League15. Computerlove (Remix) - KraftwerkNotes and Other Random Things: Hello, everyone! It's nice to be here. I've come so far to see you all ...Finally, another podcast for your listening pleasure. It appears even this 'cast is not immune to supply chain snafus. Immediately after my last podcast, my 12-year old computer bit the dust. I spent a lot of time picking out parts for my new build, but could not find a suitable video card to save my life. Took many months and a bit of luck to get the last piece of my silicon puzzle and then a couple weeks to find enough time to put it all together. But, I did and it works! So, here we are. Lots to like in this one and hopefully I'll get to provide some tidbits about some of the songs in the near future. For now, enjoy the music. Great to be back!

1. Pedestrian's Adventures - Camouflage 2. Deeper And Deeper (Long Version) - The Fixx 3. A Little Respect (12" Remix UK) - Erasure 4. Relax (New York Mix) - Frankie Goes To Hollywood 5. Date Stamp - ABC 6. Pleasure Boys (Razormaid! Mix) - Visage 7. Who'll Stop The Rain? (Special Dance Mix) - Heaven 17 8. Confusion - New Order 9. American - Soviets (Cameron Paul Mix) - C.C.C.P. 10. Brave New World (Razormaid! Mix) - Moskwa TV 11. All Day - Ministry 12. Behind The Wheel (Shep Pettibone Remix) - Depeche Mode 13. Planet Earth (Night Mix) - Duran Duran 14. The Things That Dreams Are Made Of - The Human League 15. Computerlove (Remix) - Kraftwerk Notes and Other Random Things:  Hello, everyone! It's nice to be here. I've come so far to see you all ... Finally, another podcast for your listening pleasure. It appears even this 'cast is not immune to supply chain snafus. Immediately after my last podcast, my 12-year old computer bit the dust. I spent a lot of time picking out parts for my new build, but could not find a suitable video card to save my life. Took many months and a bit of luck to get the last piece of my silicon puzzle and then a couple weeks to find enough time to put it all together. But, I did and it works! So, here we are.  Lots to like in this one and hopefully I'll get to provide some tidbits about some of the songs in the near future. For now, enjoy the music. Great to be back!

Episode 1: CRC Retro Mix #55

1. Idiot Country - Electronic2. Rising Sun - The Farm3. Patience (Razormaid! Mix) - Celebrate The Nun4. Soul On Fire - Anything Box5. The Walk (Everything Mix) - The Cure6. LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Beatmasters 12" Mix) - The Shamen7. What Can You Do For Me - Utah Saints8. Blue Monday (Hardfloor Mix) - New Order9. Channel Z (12" Rock Mix) - The B-52's10. Sea Of Sin (Razormaid! Mix) - Depeche Mode11. You Think You Know Her (The Deception Mix) - Cause &amp; Effect12. One In Ten (UB40 Vocal) - 808 State13. Red Hills Road - Candyflip14. Give Me Your Hand (Razormaid! Mix) - Red Flag15. Tasty Fish (Pascal 12" Mix) - The Other TwoNotes and other random things:I hope everyone is staying busy and safe during the current craziness. I really assumed that lockdowns and stay-at-home-orders early in the spring would be a boon for my podcasting opportunities, but alas it was not. Still, I finally managed to get around to recording this line up of tunes yesterday that I assembled a while ago. So there's that. If you're a 90s dance music fan there is lots to love here, most of which has not appeared in a #CRCRetro podcast prior to today (I'm looking at you Anything Box, Electronic, The B-52's, The Farm, Cause &amp; Effect and Candyflip). One thing that stands out is a full third of the tunes here are album versions and not remixes. Much like the more you learn the more you find out you have yet to learn, the same applies to my music collection. Seems like the more stuff I collect, the more I realize how much I have yet to get. Because I have no desire to repeat things too often in this 'cast, I assume nobody will have issues with hearing album cuts of some songs strategically placed among the mixes. But, it certainly makes mixing more challenging. Thank God for looping!A second thing that stands out is that three songs here are from the New Order evolutionary tree. "Idiot Country" (a personal fave of mine) from the super-group Electronic featured Bernard Sumner from New Order, Johnny Marr from The Smiths/The The, and Neil Tennant from Pet Shop Boys. "Tasty Fish", from 1991, is by The Other Two: New Order drummer Stephen Morris and New Order keyboardist Gillian Gilbert. Of course, then there's the 1995 Hardfloor Mix of "Blue Monday", the original of which still sounds cool and futuristic all these years later, and is still the best-selling 12" dance single of all-time. Considering I'm currently reading Peter Hook's book "Substance Inside New Order", which is his take on the phenomenon that was/is New Order I suppose I had them on the brain while assembling this podcast. Nonetheless, there's a lot of good, upbeat vibes in this edition and really we could all use a little more of that these days. More to come ...

1. Idiot Country - Electronic 2. Rising Sun - The Farm 3. Patience (Razormaid! Mix) - Celebrate The Nun 4. Soul On Fire - Anything Box 5. The Walk (Everything Mix) - The Cure 6. LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Beatmasters 12" Mix) - The Shamen 7. What Can You Do For Me - Utah Saints 8. Blue Monday (Hardfloor Mix) - New Order 9. Channel Z (12" Rock Mix) - The B-52's 10. Sea Of Sin (Razormaid! Mix) - Depeche Mode 11. You Think You Know Her (The Deception Mix) - Cause &amp; Effect 12. One In Ten (UB40 Vocal) - 808 State 13. Red Hills Road - Candyflip 14. Give Me Your Hand (Razormaid! Mix) - Red Flag 15. Tasty Fish (Pascal 12" Mix) - The Other Two Notes and other random things: I hope everyone is staying busy and safe during the current craziness. I really assumed that lockdowns and stay-at-home-orders early in the spring would be a boon for my podcasting opportunities, but alas it was not. Still, I finally managed to get around to recording this line up of tunes yesterday that I assembled a while ago. So there's that. If you're a 90s dance music fan there is lots to love here, most of which has not appeared in a #CRCRetro podcast prior to today (I'm looking at you Anything Box, Electronic, The B-52's, The Farm, Cause &amp; Effect and Candyflip). One thing that stands out is a full third of the tunes here are album versions and not remixes. Much like the more you learn the more you find out you have yet to learn, the same applies to my music collection. Seems like the more stuff I collect, the more I realize how much I have yet to get. Because I have no desire to repeat things too often in this 'cast, I assume nobody will have issues with hearing album cuts of some songs strategically placed among the mixes. But, it certainly makes mixing more challenging. Thank God for looping! A second thing that stands out is that three songs here are from the New Order evolutionary tree. "Idiot Country" (a personal fave of mine) from the super-group Electronic featured Bernard Sumner from New Order, Johnny Marr from The Smiths/The The, and Neil Tennant from Pet Shop Boys. "Tasty Fish", from 1991, is by The Other Two: New Order drummer Stephen Morris and New Order keyboardist Gillian Gilbert. Of course, then there's the 1995 Hardfloor Mix of "Blue Monday", the original of which still sounds cool and futuristic all these years later, and is still the best-selling 12" dance single of all-time. Considering I'm currently reading Peter Hook's book "Substance Inside New Order", which is his take on the phenomenon that was/is New Order I suppose I had them on the brain while assembling this podcast. Nonetheless, there's a lot of good, upbeat vibes in this edition and really we could all use a little more of that these days. More to come ...

CRC Retro Mix #54

1. Animal Magic (Dance Vocal) - Belouis Some2. If You Leave (Hot Tracks Mix) - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark3. Obsession (US 12" Mix) - Animotion4. Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) (12" Version) - Spandau Ballet5. Poison Arrow (US Remix) - ABC6. Kiss Me - Tin Tin7. It's A Miracle / Miss Me Blind (US 12" Mix) - Culture Club8. Love &amp; Pride (USA Summer Mix) - King9. Shack Up (Radio Edit) - A Certain Ratio10. Change Your Mind (Razormaid! Mix) - Gary Numan11. Hold Back The Rain (Remix) - Duran Duran12. Can You Hear Me? (Razormaid! Mix) - Visage13. But Not Tonight (Extended Remix) - Depeche Mode14. Talk Talk (Extended Version) - Talk Talk15. Leave Me Alone - New OrderNotes and other random things:I assembled this podcast while selecting songs for my previous podcast and thankfully had time this week to record. So for anyone keeping track that's two new podcasts in roughly a month! Not bad for someone who has been on the quasi-semi-biannual recording schedule for some time. I'll add some notes at some point, though I haven't even finished the notes from my previous 'cast. I figured you all would want the music more than my ramblings anyway. Enjoy!

1. Animal Magic (Dance Vocal) - Belouis Some 2. If You Leave (Hot Tracks Mix) - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark 3. Obsession (US 12" Mix) - Animotion 4. Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) (12" Version) - Spandau Ballet 5. Poison Arrow (US Remix) - ABC 6. Kiss Me - Tin Tin 7. It's A Miracle / Miss Me Blind (US 12" Mix) - Culture Club 8. Love &amp; Pride (USA Summer Mix) - King 9. Shack Up (Radio Edit) - A Certain Ratio 10. Change Your Mind (Razormaid! Mix) - Gary Numan 11. Hold Back The Rain (Remix) - Duran Duran 12. Can You Hear Me? (Razormaid! Mix) - Visage 13. But Not Tonight (Extended Remix) - Depeche Mode 14. Talk Talk (Extended Version) - Talk Talk 15. Leave Me Alone - New Order Notes and other random things: I assembled this podcast while selecting songs for my previous podcast and thankfully had time this week to record. So for anyone keeping track that's two new podcasts in roughly a month! Not bad for someone who has been on the quasi-semi-biannual recording schedule for some time. I'll add some notes at some point, though I haven't even finished the notes from my previous 'cast. I figured you all would want the music more than my ramblings anyway. Enjoy!

CRC Retro Mix #53

1. Lust For Love - Images In Vogue2. Shake The Disease (Remixed Extended) - Depeche Mode3. Heartbreak Beat (Extended Mix) - The Psychedelic Furs4. Burn For You (12" Remix) - INXS5. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order6. New Religion - Duran Duran7. Memorabilia (12" Mix) - Soft Cell8. We Came To Dance (12" Version) - Ultravox9. Goodbye Seventies - Yaz10. Run From Love (Razormaid! Mix) - Bronski Beat11. The Love Parade (12" Mix) - The Dream Academy12. Love Is A Shield (Extended Mix) - Camouflage13. Million Headed Monster (Listen) - I Start Counting14. Symmetry (Extended Mix) - The Spoons15. Sex (I'm A ...) (Extended Version) - BerlinNotes and other random things: Happy New Year to everyone! My gift to you: a NEW PODCAST! Ring in 2020 and the new decade in glorious retro style, but please play responsibly. That goes for everything else tonight as well! I'll be back with some tidbits about the bands when I get a chance. In the meantime, Happy Listening!Much the same as other "almosts" like B-Movie and The Danse Society, bands whose promising beginnings were marred by disappointing recording sessions at crucial developmental stages, Images In Vogue's trajectory seemed poised to deliver better overall results. After forming in 1981, moderate success found them early with the 1982 release of two EPs: the 3-song "Pre-Release" and 5-song "Educated Man", plus an opening gig for Depeche Mode. Supported by relentless touring and and opening slot for Duran Duran in 1984 the band signed with Warner Canada. Setting to work on their first full-length album, the label execs suggested "Dream Weaver" singer Gary Wright to oversee production. The resulting sessions produced dismal results for the band who decided to shelve the project. The album would eventually be released by the label on the strength of the single "Call It Love" which was getting regular rotation on college radio throughout North America. Touring demands in Toronto prompted a move across country from their home in Vancouver. Ironically, the rigors of travel caused friction among band members. Simultaneously, band member Kevin Crompton (later known professionally as cEvin Key) remained in Vancouver to focus on his bourgeoning side project, Skinny Puppy. Further fracturing caused the band to slowly lose their momentum and Images In Vogue went on official hiatus in 1991. Renewed interest in retro music and fan demand has reunited members for various tours and appearances including a 2012 appearance with the next band I'd like to mention: The Spoons.The Spoons formed in Burlington, Ontario Canada in 1979. Taking their name from the famous utensil while eating Alphabet Soup at the home of band member Brett Wickens, the group originally followed a prog rock template, but found more success as pioneers of the Canadian electronic music scene. After recording an early single in 1981, Wickens left the group to focus on design. Originally working with Peter Saville, designer for the Factory Records catalog of bands, he has since carved out an exceptional career in brand identity, having directed work for major companies such as Adobe, Coca-Cola, Sony, Viacom and for all the major Hollywood Studios. He is responsible for designing the Sopranos logo. Without Wickens, the band came to prominence beginning in 1981 with the release of "Stick Figure Neighborhood", one of the earliest new wave albums to be engineered by the great Daniel Lanois. Their next album, "Arias &amp; Symphonies" earned the collective a Most Promising Group Award and saw "Nova Heart", the first single from the album hit the Canadian charts. The b-side to that song was the one here, "Symmetry". A live favorite at early gigs, lead singer Gordon Deppe said of the song, "We went into the studio fully intending it to be our first single release. Little did we know that the lesser known B-side "Nova Heart" would take on a life of its own and become the A-side midway through recording. It took us all off guard." So, "Symmetry" was almost a hit. Strangely enough, the song didn't even appear on the "Arias &amp; Symphonies" album. Members of the band reunited in 2010 to record their sixth album and appeared alongside Images In Vogue in 2013 to co-headline the "Rewind The Tape" tour. They are still active today.The Dream Academy almost never happened. Singer/Guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, formerly in a band called The Act, keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel and multi-instrumentalist Kate St. John combined forces with the notion of creating music with a diverse and rather unorthodox set of instruments and sounds. Moving counter to the power pop acts of the day, their demos were rejected by every record label over the course of a two-year period before before getting signed by Warner Brothers thanks to a fortuitous relationship with Geoff Travis of Rough Trade records and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who went on to produce Dream Academy's first two albums. As luck would have it David's brother Mark had played guitar in The Act with Nick. The track here, "The Love Parade", was the fourth single from the group's eponymous debut album. It eventually peaked at #36 in the US, but was viewed as disappointing by record execs who had hoped for more in the shadow of the runaway hit "Life In A Northern Town". Reflecting on production for "The Love Parade", the only song on their first album not produced by Gilmour, on the 35th Anniversary of the release of their first full-length, Nick revealed: "What happened was, we had a pretty good demo for “Love Parade,” and we loved it, and when we made the record with David, somehow we never got 'round to it, and he always said, “Well, the demo's pretty good, and it's not really my kind of thing, and it's good what you've got.” And I said, “Well, okay.” But at the end of the album, when we listened to it, it wasn't good enough. But we still all adored the version, so Geoff Travis from Rough Trade, being a really canny music-loving thinker, said, “What about [Alan] Tarney? He did 'We Don't Talk Anymore,' by Cliff Richard.” And we all loved that record. There was a touch of irony about it, because we knew this was coming from right field instead of left field, and we thought, “Well, that's a really inspired idea, because nobody would think of us working with Tarney.” So it was really interesting, and we said, “Well, let's see what he thinks.” And he said, “No, I'd love to do it!” It wasn't like I could say, “I want this, I want that.” I did a lot of that, and he walked out a couple of times because of that. And it was right back to that old thing which had happened every time when I'd worked with anyone before David. It was just silly things like, “Can I just get on the faders and push the keyboards like this and put more echo on the voice?” But it was always happening to me. [Laughs.] So it was brilliant, and… Well, no, it wasn't brilliant, but he did it, and then we mixed it again, and it was great. But he taught us a lot. I mean, he didn't triple-track vocals. He tracked them up about 12 or 15 times! He had real special techniques, and he also had quite strong ideas. So he was wonderful, but he just came at things from a totally different place. He was pure pop, and he was very, very brilliant at it." As a side note: Alan Tarney also produced "Take On Me" by A-ha.

1. Lust For Love - Images In Vogue 2. Shake The Disease (Remixed Extended) - Depeche Mode 3. Heartbreak Beat (Extended Mix) - The Psychedelic Furs 4. Burn For You (12" Remix) - INXS 5. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order 6. New Religion - Duran Duran 7. Memorabilia (12" Mix) - Soft Cell 8. We Came To Dance (12" Version) - Ultravox 9. Goodbye Seventies - Yaz 10. Run From Love (Razormaid! Mix) - Bronski Beat 11. The Love Parade (12" Mix) - The Dream Academy 12. Love Is A Shield (Extended Mix) - Camouflage 13. Million Headed Monster (Listen) - I Start Counting 14. Symmetry (Extended Mix) - The Spoons 15. Sex (I'm A ...) (Extended Version) - Berlin Notes and other random things: Happy New Year to everyone! My gift to you: a NEW PODCAST! Ring in 2020 and the new decade in glorious retro style, but please play responsibly. That goes for everything else tonight as well! I'll be back with some tidbits about the bands when I get a chance. In the meantime, Happy Listening! Much the same as other "almosts" like B-Movie and The Danse Society, bands whose promising beginnings were marred by disappointing recording sessions at crucial developmental stages, Images In Vogue's trajectory seemed poised to deliver better overall results. After forming in 1981, moderate success found them early with the 1982 release of two EPs: the 3-song "Pre-Release" and 5-song "Educated Man", plus an opening gig for Depeche Mode. Supported by relentless touring and and opening slot for Duran Duran in 1984 the band signed with Warner Canada. Setting to work on their first full-length album, the label execs suggested "Dream Weaver" singer Gary Wright to oversee production. The resulting sessions produced dismal results for the band who decided to shelve the project. The album would eventually be released by the label on the strength of the single "Call It Love" which was getting regular rotation on college radio throughout North America. Touring demands in Toronto prompted a move across country from their home in Vancouver. Ironically, the rigors of travel caused friction among band members. Simultaneously, band member Kevin Crompton (later known professionally as cEvin Key) remained in Vancouver to focus on his bourgeoning side project, Skinny Puppy. Further fracturing caused the band to slowly lose their momentum and Images In Vogue went on official hiatus in 1991. Renewed interest in retro music and fan demand has reunited members for various tours and appearances including a 2012 appearance with the next band I'd like to mention: The Spoons. The Spoons formed in Burlington, Ontario Canada in 1979. Taking their name from the famous utensil while eating Alphabet Soup at the home of band member Brett Wickens, the group originally followed a prog rock template, but found more success as pioneers of the Canadian electronic music scene. After recording an early single in 1981, Wickens left the group to focus on design. Originally working with Peter Saville, designer for the Factory Records catalog of bands, he has since carved out an exceptional career in brand identity, having directed work for major companies such as Adobe, Coca-Cola, Sony, Viacom and for all the major Hollywood Studios. He is responsible for designing the Sopranos logo. Without Wickens, the band came to prominence beginning in 1981 with the release of "Stick Figure Neighborhood", one of the earliest new wave albums to be engineered by the great Daniel Lanois. Their next album, "Arias &amp; Symphonies" earned the collective a Most Promising Group Award and saw "Nova Heart", the first single from the album hit the Canadian charts. The b-side to that song was the one here, "Symmetry". A live favorite at early gigs, lead singer Gordon Deppe said of the song, "We went into the studio fully intending it to be our first single release. Little did we know that the lesser known B-side "Nova Heart" would take on a life of its own and become the A-side midway through recording. It took us all off guard." So, "Symmetry" was almost a hit. Strangely enough, the song didn't even appear on the "Arias &amp; Symphonies" album. Members of the band reunited in 2010 to record their sixth album and appeared alongside Images In Vogue in 2013 to co-headline the "Rewind The Tape" tour. They are still active today. The Dream Academy almost never happened. Singer/Guitarist Nick Laird-Clowes, formerly in a band called The Act, keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel and multi-instrumentalist Kate St. John combined forces with the notion of creating music with a diverse and rather unorthodox set of instruments and sounds. Moving counter to the power pop acts of the day, their demos were rejected by every record label over the course of a two-year period before before getting signed by Warner Brothers thanks to a fortuitous relationship with Geoff Travis of Rough Trade records and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who went on to produce Dream Academy's first two albums. As luck would have it David's brother Mark had played guitar in The Act with Nick. The track here, "The Love Parade", was the fourth single from the group's eponymous debut album. It eventually peaked at #36 in the US, but was viewed as disappointing by record execs who had hoped for more in the shadow of the runaway hit "Life In A Northern Town". Reflecting on production for "The Love Parade", the only song on their first album not produced by Gilmour, on the 35th Anniversary of the release of their first full-length, Nick revealed: "What happened was, we had a pretty good demo for “Love Parade,” and we loved it, and when we made the record with David, somehow we never got 'round to it, and he always said, “Well, the demo's pretty good, and it's not really my kind of thing, and it's good what you've got.” And I said, “Well, okay.” But at the end of the album, when we listened to it, it wasn't good enough. But we still all adored the version, so Geoff Travis from Rough Trade, being a really canny music-loving thinker, said, “What about [Alan] Tarney? He did 'We Don't Talk Anymore,' by Cliff Richard.” And we all loved that record. There was a touch of irony about it, because we knew this was coming from right field instead of left field, and we thought, “Well, that's a really inspired idea, because nobody would think of us working with Tarney.” So it was really interesting, and we said, “Well, let's see what he thinks.” And he said, “No, I'd love to do it!” It wasn't like I could say, “I want this, I want that.” I did a lot of that, and he walked out a couple of times because of that. And it was right back to that old thing which had happened every time when I'd worked with anyone before David. It was just silly things like, “Can I just get on the faders and push the keyboards like this and put more echo on the voice?” But it was always happening to me. [Laughs.] So it was brilliant, and… Well, no, it wasn't brilliant, but he did it, and then we mixed it again, and it was great. But he taught us a lot. I mean, he didn't triple-track vocals. He tracked them up about 12 or 15 times! He had real special techniques, and he also had quite strong ideas. So he was wonderful, but he just came at things from a totally different place. He was pure pop, and he was very, very brilliant at it." As a side note: Alan Tarney also produced "Take On Me" by A-ha.

CRC Retro Mix #52

1. Regina - The Sugarcubes2. Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Club Mix) - U23. Tom's Diner (DNA Mix) - Suzanne Vega4. Hippie Chick (Flower Power Mix) - Soho5. Space (Funny Mix) - Candyflip6. Perpetual Dawn - The Orb7. X,Y &amp; Zee (The Intergalactic Mix) - Pop Will Eat Itself8. I Want Your (Hands On Me) (Razormaid! Mix) - Sinead O'Connor9. Cloud 8 (Future Mix) - Frazier Chorus10. King For A Day (Extended Mix) - Thompson Twins11. Secret (Original 12" Mix) - OMD12. Thieves Like Us - New Order13. Nothing (Zip Hop Mix) - Depeche Mode14. I Touch Roses (Full Bloom Mix) - Book Of Love15. Universal Daddy (Aquarian Dance Mix) - Alphaville

1. Regina - The Sugarcubes 2. Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Club Mix) - U2 3. Tom's Diner (DNA Mix) - Suzanne Vega 4. Hippie Chick (Flower Power Mix) - Soho 5. Space (Funny Mix) - Candyflip 6. Perpetual Dawn - The Orb 7. X,Y &amp; Zee (The Intergalactic Mix) - Pop Will Eat Itself 8. I Want Your (Hands On Me) (Razormaid! Mix) - Sinead O'Connor 9. Cloud 8 (Future Mix) - Frazier Chorus 10. King For A Day (Extended Mix) - Thompson Twins 11. Secret (Original 12" Mix) - OMD 12. Thieves Like Us - New Order 13. Nothing (Zip Hop Mix) - Depeche Mode 14. I Touch Roses (Full Bloom Mix) - Book Of Love 15. Universal Daddy (Aquarian Dance Mix) - Alphaville

CRC Retro Mix #51

1. Bag Lady (I Wonder) - Ebn-Ozn2. Electric Barbarella (Tee's Club Mix) - Duran Duran3. Sub-culture (Razormaid! Mix) - New Order4. (Set Me Free) Remotivate Me (Release Mix) - Depeche Mode5. Music That You Can Dance To (Razormaid! Mix) - Sparks6. Love Glove (Full Version) - Visage7. Clear Trails - Shriekback8. European Son (12" Version) - Japan9. Let's Go To Bed (Extended Version) - The Cure10. When Smokey Sings (Detroit Mix) - ABC11. No Stars (Unreleased Original Remix) - Figures On A Beach12. Blue Savannah (Razormaid! Mix) - Erasure13. Disenchanted (12" Version) - Communards14. No Gift Refused (Extended Version) - Until December15. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Simple MindsNotes and other random things:50 episodes! Kind of a nice accomplishment, if I may say so. Not sure why 50 is any more important than, say, 47 or 5 or 19. I certainly don't want to be numerically discriminatory or anything like that, but maybe if those other numbers were divisible by something other than themselves and 1 they might get more publicity. So, I'll celebrate reaching the 50-episode milestone because not only is 50 equal to half a hundred, but it is divisible by lots of other cool numbers. On to the bands ...The first band I'd like to mention here is the first band in this podcast: Ebn-Ozn. Many of you are probably aware of the excellent "AEIOU Sometimes Y", which also appeared on CRC #28, but most of you may not be aware of their tune "Bag Lady", which was a Top 40 Club hit and minor radio hit. Both songs appeared on the group's only full-length album called "Feeling Cavalier", which is notable for being the first album to be recorded entirely on a Fairlight CMI sampling keyboard. That makes Ebn-Ozn one of the true pioneers of the sampling culture which was just starting to take hold in the early 80s. If you haven't seen the video to "Bag Lady", it featured one Imogene Coca, better known as Aunt Edna in National Lampoon's Vacation movie. Go take a look. I'll wait ...Okay, we're back live.

1. Bag Lady (I Wonder) - Ebn-Ozn 2. Electric Barbarella (Tee's Club Mix) - Duran Duran 3. Sub-culture (Razormaid! Mix) - New Order 4. (Set Me Free) Remotivate Me (Release Mix) - Depeche Mode 5. Music That You Can Dance To (Razormaid! Mix) - Sparks 6. Love Glove (Full Version) - Visage 7. Clear Trails - Shriekback 8. European Son (12" Version) - Japan 9. Let's Go To Bed (Extended Version) - The Cure 10. When Smokey Sings (Detroit Mix) - ABC 11. No Stars (Unreleased Original Remix) - Figures On A Beach 12. Blue Savannah (Razormaid! Mix) - Erasure 13. Disenchanted (12" Version) - Communards 14. No Gift Refused (Extended Version) - Until December 15. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Simple Minds Notes and other random things: 50 episodes! Kind of a nice accomplishment, if I may say so. Not sure why 50 is any more important than, say, 47 or 5 or 19. I certainly don't want to be numerically discriminatory or anything like that, but maybe if those other numbers were divisible by something other than themselves and 1 they might get more publicity. So, I'll celebrate reaching the 50-episode milestone because not only is 50 equal to half a hundred, but it is divisible by lots of other cool numbers. On to the bands ... The first band I'd like to mention here is the first band in this podcast: Ebn-Ozn. Many of you are probably aware of the excellent "AEIOU Sometimes Y", which also appeared on CRC #28, but most of you may not be aware of their tune "Bag Lady", which was a Top 40 Club hit and minor radio hit. Both songs appeared on the group's only full-length album called "Feeling Cavalier", which is notable for being the first album to be recorded entirely on a Fairlight CMI sampling keyboard. That makes Ebn-Ozn one of the true pioneers of the sampling culture which was just starting to take hold in the early 80s. If you haven't seen the video to "Bag Lady", it featured one Imogene Coca, better known as Aunt Edna in National Lampoon's Vacation movie. Go take a look. I'll wait ... Okay, we're back live.

CRC Retro Mix #50

1. Heartbeat City - The Cars2. All Roads Lead To Rome - The Stranglers3. I Die: You Die - Gary Numan4. Auto Music (Razormaid! Mix) - Our Daughter's Wedding5. To Cut A Long Story Short (12" Version) - Spandau Ballet6. Fun City (12" Mix) - Soft Cell7. 8:15 To Nowhere - Vicious Pink8. Telecommunication - A Flock Of Seagulls9. New Life (Remix) - Depeche Mode10. Devil Inside (12" Remix) - INXS11. Still Angry - Book Of Love12. Today (Extended Version) - Talk Talk13. A Forest (Tree Mix) - The Cure14. The Metro (Extended Version) - Berlin15. Take On Me (Tony Mansfield 12" Version) - A-ha Notes and other random things:So, hello again! Nice to make your acquaintance. Good to finally carve out an evening to record another podcast. I swear, these days I blink and three or four months go by. I suppose, relatively speaking, the same could be said for this episode as it is officially the shortest podcast in CRC history, clocking in at just under one hour. "So, Mr. DJ Tintin," I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "for all my patience waiting for you to give me some new tunes you reward me with LESS music???" It seems that way. You still get the requisite 15 songs, but many of these were single or album versions as opposed to remixes. That's the only defense I have. BUT, look at this artist and track list! Those of you looking for some stuff you haven't heard before may have just hit the mother lode. The Stranglers? Our Daughter's Wedding? Not exactly household names. "Fun City", "Heartbeat City", "Still Angry"? Not exactly the songs anyone would recall off the top of their heads by Soft Cell, The Cars or Book Of Love, respectively. But enough justification. On to the bands ...So, why were the 80s so great? A loaded question to be sure. But ask yourself how many bands in recent memory could have a member, who owned a hair salon, rent out a space above said hair salon, form a band, get discovered by Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe fame, decide upon wearing women's clothes for a video shot in three days on a shoestring budget and become superstars thanks in some part to a fledgling music network called MTV and a now-famous hairstyle? Such was the fate of A Flock of Seagulls, a band that certainly helped alter my musical trajectory and, with the song I Ran (So Far Away), created one of the most iconic and lasting songs of the decade. THAT is the greatness of the 80s - the fact that music was not yet paint-by-number. There was room for experimentation. Sure, you had to be marketable, but the definition of marketable was fluid. And the rules were fluid. As long as someone in the know heard something they liked or saw a creative spark it was sometimes enough for a label to take a chance on you. Spoken like someone who thinks the music they grew up with is the best, I know. But I ask again: could that backstory exist today? Perhaps, but I just don't see it. As for the song in this podcast, "Telecommunication", it is sort of a cult hit at this point and probably an accidental one at that. "(It's Not Me) Talking" was the first single release by AFOS in 1981, but it was the futuristic lyrics and "wall of sound" energy, later praised by uber-producer Phil Spector, that propelled "Telecommunication" into the clubs and into hearts of new wavers. The tune still sounds cool and futuristic even today and reminds me of a moment in time when musical possibilities were still limitless."No sequencers were used" reads the liner notes of Our Daughters Wedding's first EP, "Digital Cowboy". Layne Rico (electronic percussion / synth), Keith Silva (vocals / synth) and Scott Simon (synth / saxophone) wanted everyone to know that their electronic wizardry and sleight of hand was due entirely to coordination and skill and not programming and triggers like many of their contemporaries such as Depeche Mode and OMD, two groups to which ODW was often compared after their switch over from punk rock and guitars to new wave and synths. And while the group, who sang about lawnchairs and made frequent appearances on MTV with Martha Quinn in the early days of the network, somewhat ironically dismissed DM and OMD as being too "gimmicky", the group did score opening slots for some of the giants of the day including Duran Duran, Talk Talk, Iggy Pop, The Psychedelic Furs and U2. They even worked with famed producer Colin Thurston to record the aforementioned EP. Not bad for a US-based band who suffered the slings and arrows and broken beer bottles of misfortune hurled at them for using electronics on stage at a time when punk was still king. But even skill and deigning to employ sequencers could not save the group from a dust up with their label, EMI. According to Scott Simon, the LA office killed the momentum of their full-length album, Moving Windows, which was released in 1982, because a label exec had a personal issue with one of the band's representatives. The track here, Auto Music, is a Razormaid! mix of the lead track to that first and only full-length. The sweet electronic bass line you hear came about from Simon and David Spradley, the producer for Moving Windows, "jamming one morning in our Union Square loft." To cut a long story short, Spandau Ballet are good. Go buy their records. Seriously, though, Spandau Ballet seems like a perfect name for a slick and sophisticated band who helped spearhead the New Romantic movement, an era of glossy images and high fashion that gave rise to groups like Duran Duran and Visage and others. That is until you remember that, like other groups, SB had their roots in the punk scene and that their name was Allied trench warfare slang for corpses whose bullet-riddled bodies twisted and danced on barbed wire as they were hit by German gunfire. Perhaps they would have been better off going with The Cut or The Makers, both previous band names. But, the name Spandau Ballet stuck as did the amazing voice of Tony Hadley, the Kemp brother's guitar prowess (Martin and Gary), Steve Norman's saxophone riffs and John Keeble's percussive underpinnings. That classic lineup produced a string of Top 10 hits (10 to be precise) including "Gold", "Only When You Leave", "True", "Chant No. 1" and the song in this podcast, "To Cut A Long Story Short", the groups' debut single, which reached #5 in the UK. Speculation surrounding the song is that it pertains to a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being drafted, but getting no explanation why he must join the war. This song apparently inspired Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, The Assembly) to write DM's third single, "Just Can't Get Enough" which, as a side note, is currently being used in a Wal-Mart advertisement. I did NOT see that coming!What more can be said about Gary Numan that hasn't already been said over the course of four decades by the music press? Probably nothing, so I'm not even going to try to break new ground. But, in case you missed it, Gary did just drop his 18th solo album, Savage (Songs From A Broken World), this past September and it instantly shot all the way up the album charts to #2 in the UK and #1 on the UK Indie charts. Call it a love of the man and his music or an indictment of the current music scene, but for a guy who goes down in history as the first artist to secure a #1 song using an all-electronic approach with the highly-coveted and frequently-covered "Are Friends Electric?" way back in 1979, the fact that Gary is still making music that questions, challenges, lifts, destroys and defies convention is impressive. Despite the lofty charting position of the new album and its predominant use of electronics, it failed to register on the Billboard Electronic charts because, according to a Billboard executive, “Sonically, the Numan album just does not fit in" with Billboard's perception of electronic dance music. Seems a bit ridiculous, but Numan is no stranger to such disinterest or indifference on the part of the music cabal. In fact, even during his heyday, "Are Friends Electric?" was perched atop the British charts for three weeks before any radio station would add it to their playlists. The song in this podcast, "I Die: You Die", which appeared in 1980 on the Telekon album a mere two years after his Tubeway Army signing with Beggars Banquet, is his rebuke of the music press and their God complex, star-maker/star-breaker tendencies. The track eventually reached #6 on the UK singles chart.And finally, speaking of the music press, the last band I'd like to mention here had them completely baffled and befuddled for the bulk of their career, or at least until 1990 when Hugh Cornwall left the group. The Stranglers, originally known as the Guildford Stranglers when they embarked as a band in 1974, were comprised of guitarist/keyboardist Hugh Cornwall, bassist/vocalist Jen-Jacques Burnel, keyboardist Dave Greenfield and drummer Brian Duffy (aka Jet Black). Though not one member hailed from Guildford, they were "tweeners" in every sense of the word, dabbling in numerous styles from electropop to soul during the course of their long and storied career. And while many of their successes came during their early punk days, they never quite fit into the punk scene. Ostracized for their relative age, their humorous, often self-deprecating lyrical style contrasted with their often anti-politically correct stage antics, their stunningly fast musical growth and development, and their hit-making skill, which generated 21 Top-40 singles, The Stranglers set themselves apart from their punk contemporaries and gave the press fits as they did not know how to put square pegs into round holes. The track here, "All Roads Lead To Rome" was from their seventh album, Feline. As you can hear, it has distinct new wave overtones, which makes total sense having been released in 1982, but it is certainly a brave departure from their earlier work. And while this track did not chart, it still stands as one of the high points from the Feline album and provides a glimpse into a chameleon-like band that was firmly in transition.Another episode in the books. Thanks for reading/listening. Enjoy the music!

1. Heartbeat City - The Cars 2. All Roads Lead To Rome - The Stranglers 3. I Die: You Die - Gary Numan 4. Auto Music (Razormaid! Mix) - Our Daughter's Wedding 5. To Cut A Long Story Short (12" Version) - Spandau Ballet 6. Fun City (12" Mix) - Soft Cell 7. 8:15 To Nowhere - Vicious Pink 8. Telecommunication - A Flock Of Seagulls 9. New Life (Remix) - Depeche Mode 10. Devil Inside (12" Remix) - INXS 11. Still Angry - Book Of Love 12. Today (Extended Version) - Talk Talk 13. A Forest (Tree Mix) - The Cure 14. The Metro (Extended Version) - Berlin 15. Take On Me (Tony Mansfield 12" Version) - A-ha Notes and other random things: So, hello again! Nice to make your acquaintance. Good to finally carve out an evening to record another podcast. I swear, these days I blink and three or four months go by. I suppose, relatively speaking, the same could be said for this episode as it is officially the shortest podcast in CRC history, clocking in at just under one hour. "So, Mr. DJ Tintin," I'm sure you're saying to yourself, "for all my patience waiting for you to give me some new tunes you reward me with LESS music???" It seems that way. You still get the requisite 15 songs, but many of these were single or album versions as opposed to remixes. That's the only defense I have. BUT, look at this artist and track list! Those of you looking for some stuff you haven't heard before may have just hit the mother lode. The Stranglers? Our Daughter's Wedding? Not exactly household names. "Fun City", "Heartbeat City", "Still Angry"? Not exactly the songs anyone would recall off the top of their heads by Soft Cell, The Cars or Book Of Love, respectively. But enough justification. On to the bands ... So, why were the 80s so great? A loaded question to be sure. But ask yourself how many bands in recent memory could have a member, who owned a hair salon, rent out a space above said hair salon, form a band, get discovered by Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe fame, decide upon wearing women's clothes for a video shot in three days on a shoestring budget and become superstars thanks in some part to a fledgling music network called MTV and a now-famous hairstyle? Such was the fate of A Flock of Seagulls, a band that certainly helped alter my musical trajectory and, with the song I Ran (So Far Away), created one of the most iconic and lasting songs of the decade. THAT is the greatness of the 80s - the fact that music was not yet paint-by-number. There was room for experimentation. Sure, you had to be marketable, but the definition of marketable was fluid. And the rules were fluid. As long as someone in the know heard something they liked or saw a creative spark it was sometimes enough for a label to take a chance on you. Spoken like someone who thinks the music they grew up with is the best, I know. But I ask again: could that backstory exist today? Perhaps, but I just don't see it. As for the song in this podcast, "Telecommunication", it is sort of a cult hit at this point and probably an accidental one at that. "(It's Not Me) Talking" was the first single release by AFOS in 1981, but it was the futuristic lyrics and "wall of sound" energy, later praised by uber-producer Phil Spector, that propelled "Telecommunication" into the clubs and into hearts of new wavers. The tune still sounds cool and futuristic even today and reminds me of a moment in time when musical possibilities were still limitless. "No sequencers were used" reads the liner notes of Our Daughters Wedding's first EP, "Digital Cowboy". Layne Rico (electronic percussion / synth), Keith Silva (vocals / synth) and Scott Simon (synth / saxophone) wanted everyone to know that their electronic wizardry and sleight of hand was due entirely to coordination and skill and not programming and triggers like many of their contemporaries such as Depeche Mode and OMD, two groups to which ODW was often compared after their switch over from punk rock and guitars to new wave and synths. And while the group, who sang about lawnchairs and made frequent appearances on MTV with Martha Quinn in the early days of the network, somewhat ironically dismissed DM and OMD as being too "gimmicky", the group did score opening slots for some of the giants of the day including Duran Duran, Talk Talk, Iggy Pop, The Psychedelic Furs and U2. They even worked with famed producer Colin Thurston to record the aforementioned EP. Not bad for a US-based band who suffered the slings and arrows and broken beer bottles of misfortune hurled at them for using electronics on stage at a time when punk was still king. But even skill and deigning to employ sequencers could not save the group from a dust up with their label, EMI. According to Scott Simon, the LA office killed the momentum of their full-length album, Moving Windows, which was released in 1982, because a label exec had a personal issue with one of the band's representatives. The track here, Auto Music, is a Razormaid! mix of the lead track to that first and only full-length. The sweet electronic bass line you hear came about from Simon and David Spradley, the producer for Moving Windows, "jamming one morning in our Union Square loft." To cut a long story short, Spandau Ballet are good. Go buy their records. Seriously, though, Spandau Ballet seems like a perfect name for a slick and sophisticated band who helped spearhead the New Romantic movement, an era of glossy images and high fashion that gave rise to groups like Duran Duran and Visage and others. That is until you remember that, like other groups, SB had their roots in the punk scene and that their name was Allied trench warfare slang for corpses whose bullet-riddled bodies twisted and danced on barbed wire as they were hit by German gunfire. Perhaps they would have been better off going with The Cut or The Makers, both previous band names. But, the name Spandau Ballet stuck as did the amazing voice of Tony Hadley, the Kemp brother's guitar prowess (Martin and Gary), Steve Norman's saxophone riffs and John Keeble's percussive underpinnings. That classic lineup produced a string of Top 10 hits (10 to be precise) including "Gold", "Only When You Leave", "True", "Chant No. 1" and the song in this podcast, "To Cut A Long Story Short", the groups' debut single, which reached #5 in the UK. Speculation surrounding the song is that it pertains to a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after being drafted, but getting no explanation why he must join the war. This song apparently inspired Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode, Yaz, The Assembly) to write DM's third single, "Just Can't Get Enough" which, as a side note, is currently being used in a Wal-Mart advertisement. I did NOT see that coming! What more can be said about Gary Numan that hasn't already been said over the course of four decades by the music press? Probably nothing, so I'm not even going to try to break new ground. But, in case you missed it, Gary did just drop his 18th solo album, Savage (Songs From A Broken World), this past September and it instantly shot all the way up the album charts to #2 in the UK and #1 on the UK Indie charts. Call it a love of the man and his music or an indictment of the current music scene, but for a guy who goes down in history as the first artist to secure a #1 song using an all-electronic approach with the highly-coveted and frequently-covered "Are Friends Electric?" way back in 1979, the fact that Gary is still making music that questions, challenges, lifts, destroys and defies convention is impressive. Despite the lofty charting position of the new album and its predominant use of electronics, it failed to register on the Billboard Electronic charts because, according to a Billboard executive, “Sonically, the Numan album just does not fit in" with Billboard's perception of electronic dance music. Seems a bit ridiculous, but Numan is no stranger to such disinterest or indifference on the part of the music cabal. In fact, even during his heyday, "Are Friends Electric?" was perched atop the British charts for three weeks before any radio station would add it to their playlists. The song in this podcast, "I Die: You Die", which appeared in 1980 on the Telekon album a mere two years after his Tubeway Army signing with Beggars Banquet, is his rebuke of the music press and their God complex, star-maker/star-breaker tendencies. The track eventually reached #6 on the UK singles chart. And finally, speaking of the music press, the last band I'd like to mention here had them completely baffled and befuddled for the bulk of their career, or at least until 1990 when Hugh Cornwall left the group. The Stranglers, originally known as the Guildford Stranglers when they embarked as a band in 1974, were comprised of guitarist/keyboardist Hugh Cornwall, bassist/vocalist Jen-Jacques Burnel, keyboardist Dave Greenfield and drummer Brian Duffy (aka Jet Black). Though not one member hailed from Guildford, they were "tweeners" in every sense of the word, dabbling in numerous styles from electropop to soul during the course of their long and storied career. And while many of their successes came during their early punk days, they never quite fit into the punk scene. Ostracized for their relative age, their humorous, often self-deprecating lyrical style contrasted with their often anti-politically correct stage antics, their stunningly fast musical growth and development, and their hit-making skill, which generated 21 Top-40 singles, The Stranglers set themselves apart from their punk contemporaries and gave the press fits as they did not know how to put square pegs into round holes. The track here, "All Roads Lead To Rome" was from their seventh album, Feline. As you can hear, it has distinct new wave overtones, which makes total sense having been released in 1982, but it is certainly a brave departure from their earlier work. And while this track did not chart, it still stands as one of the high points from the Feline album and provides a glimpse into a chameleon-like band that was firmly in transition. Another episode in the books. Thanks for reading/listening. Enjoy the music!

CRC Retro Mix #49

1. Close (To The Edit) - The Art Of Noise2. Wood Beez (Version) - Scritti Politti3. Junge Roemer (Specially Remixed Version) - Falco4. Promised You A Miracle (US Remix) - Simple Minds5. What You Need (Extended Mix) - INXS6. Strangelove (Blind Mix) - Depeche Mode7. The Great Commandment (Strauss Remix) - Camouflage8. Animal Magic (Dance Vocal) - Belouis Some9. Chains Of Love (Truly In Love With The Marks Bros. Mix) - Erasure10. True Faith (Shep Pettibone Remix) - New Order11. Have In Mind (Kalimba Mix) - Cetu Javu12. Brand New Lover (Dust Monkey's Love Bubble Mix) - Dead Or Alive13. Relax (Ollie J Mix) - Frankie Goes To Hollywood14. It's My Life (Happy 90's Mix) - Talk Talk15. Is There Something I Should Know? (DJ Tintin Mix) - Duran Duran

1. Close (To The Edit) - The Art Of Noise 2. Wood Beez (Version) - Scritti Politti 3. Junge Roemer (Specially Remixed Version) - Falco 4. Promised You A Miracle (US Remix) - Simple Minds 5. What You Need (Extended Mix) - INXS 6. Strangelove (Blind Mix) - Depeche Mode 7. The Great Commandment (Strauss Remix) - Camouflage 8. Animal Magic (Dance Vocal) - Belouis Some 9. Chains Of Love (Truly In Love With The Marks Bros. Mix) - Erasure 10. True Faith (Shep Pettibone Remix) - New Order 11. Have In Mind (Kalimba Mix) - Cetu Javu 12. Brand New Lover (Dust Monkey's Love Bubble Mix) - Dead Or Alive 13. Relax (Ollie J Mix) - Frankie Goes To Hollywood 14. It's My Life (Happy 90's Mix) - Talk Talk 15. Is There Something I Should Know? (DJ Tintin Mix) - Duran Duran

CRC Retro Mix #48

1. Love Is All That Matters - The Human League2. In The Name Of Love - Naked Eyes3. What He Say - Ministry4. Too Shy (Midnight Mix) - Kajagoogoo5. (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena (Extended Version) - Sandra6. Jet Set (Jellybean Mix) - Alphaville7. Some People (Special Club Mix) - Belouis Some8. World In My Eyes (Oil Tank Mix) - Depeche Mode9. Vanishing Point - New Order10. Boy (Original 12" Version) - Book Of Love11. Probably A Robbery (12 Gauge Turbo) - Renegade Soundwave12. Count To Three (House Mix) - Red Flag13. Loved It (The Other Track) - The Other Two14. Different Story (World Of Lust And Crime) (Long Version) - Peter Schilling15. This Occupation (Extended Mix) - China CrisisNotes and other random things:So, how often does a band release a non-hit to promote an upcoming Greatest Hits compilation? I don't know the answer exactly, but it can't be very often. Still, The Human League did just that with the first track in this episode. Truth be told, "Love Is All That Matters" did reach #41 in the UK, but this particular song was aimed at US audiences specifically due to the fact the that "Human", the first single from the album Crash, went to #1 in the States. Sadly, the track failed to chart in America. Oddly enough, the song, which was the third single off the album, was released almost two years after the album itself, which made it more of a promotion for the upcoming Greatest Hits package. Accompanying the song's release was a cheaply-made clips video, perpetuating the notion that the group's label was not willing to invest much more in the band, with their having reached a low point creatively. It's why the band was flown to Minneapolis in the first place to work with renowned producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, mega-producers responsible for the meteoric rise of Janet Jackson and others. While the parties got along personally, professionally the sessions were a total power struggle. Lead singer Phil Oakey said of the pairing, "We like to be in control in the studio. We don't like giving that up to a producer. That's why we had a big, final argument, and we just decided to go home and leave them to finish it off. It just got to the point of who had the power, and in that instance...They were the men behind the mixing console, so they had ultimate control." Jam and Lewis had notoriously rejected much of the band's material in favor of their own, even replacing keyboardists Philip Adrian Wright and Ian Burden. Wright was so humiliated, he quit the band upon their return to the UK and Burden shortly thereafter. Still, despite the power struggle, Oakey now admits that this record saved their careers, despite feeling as if its not truly their album. Whatever the case, "Love Is All That Matters" is a terrific song, which is why I chose to feature it here.Naked Eyes has not often shown up in these podcasts, mostly because I do not own any remixes by the group. (Insert audible gasp here). While their music is fantastic, it seems there was always something there to remind me that other releases took precedence over filling gaps in the Naked Eyes portion of my music collection. (You see what I did there!) Thank goodness for looping then, right? At least it gives me a chance to feature SOMETHING by these guys. In this instance, I chose "(What) In the Name of Love" from 1984's Fuel for the Fire album. It was the second full-length release from the group that was origially conceived as a duo featuring Pete Byrne on vocals and counterpart Rob Fisher on keyboards. Originally in a band called Neon with future Tears For Fears progenitors, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, that collaboration was short-lived, but it gave fans of 80s music two great bands at the expense of one, which is not a bad thing at all. And though you may hear lots of wacky stories from those who lived through the decade of excess, one thing you'll never hear anyone say is "I remember seeing Naked Eyes live." Though Pete Byrne has said they expected to tour after their first album, but their record label wanted them to produce more studio material, many believe that the complexity of their music prevented them from ever touring. They were one of the early adopters of the Fairlight CMI and Emulator sampling synthesizers and, because of the sheer bulk of the equipment back then and the limitations those synthesizers possessed with regard to memory and sequencing ability, it was considered almost impossible to recreate their songs in a live setting. These were digital sound reproductions, not analog or reel-to-reel reproductions as bands like Depeche Mode used on stage for percussion early in their careers. So, much like Visage before them, the band was strictly a studio creation. After the second album, Byrne and Fisher took a hiatus from Naked Eyes to pursue other musical interests, but left the partnership open-ended. They had always planned to get back together to write more songs. The moment arrived in 1999, but sadly the sessions were interrupted when Rob Fisher died of complications from surgery. Still, Byrne has carried on and Naked Eyes in its current incarnation has been playing live shows across America from Hollywood to Carnegie Hall, has performed on PBS and has put out both a live concert DVD and a critically-acclaimed ten-song acoustic collection. An all-new studio album is apparently forthcoming as well. Maybe it will have some remixes!Anyone with a working knowledge of Ministry and Alain Jourgensen knows the group has gone through a fairly massive transformation from their early days as a new wave/synthpop group to the thrash metal juggernaut that tore up venues with punishing guitar-laden sounds from mid-90s to the present. To anyone else, it would seem that the Ministry appearing in this podcast is not even the same group as the current incarnation. Heck, it's still hard for me to connect the dots between point A and point B, but for Jourgensen that would probably be the preferable scenario. He has repeatedly said his previous persona, that of a clean-cut kid sporting new wave duds and singing with a fake British accent was a mistake, disavowing any willfulness on his part to produce such a monstrously "awful" album as With Sympathy, the source for "What He Say", the track that appears here. He has held tight to the notion that Arista records was solely responsible for the direction the band took on that first full-length release, though his wife at the time was quoted as saying "...the English accent thing was more an homage to the bands he loved than anything else. He was not trying to come off as British. The Stones used a southern accent and no one crawled up their ass for it."  Regardless, With Sympathy is an excellent slice of new wave bliss despite the fact that its creator denies having anything to do with it. Out of print for quite a while (Jourgensen has said on several occasions that he destroyed the original master tapes) the album was reissued in 2012 with three bonus tracks.The Other Two, if memory serves (and it may not) has not yet appeared in CRC. The group consists of Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, husband and wife, drummer and keyboardist respectively of New Order and both critical components to the success of that band. Morris also drummed for Joy Division. Morris has said there is no real mystery to The Other Two band name "We're crap at names, and it was getting late" is his explanation of its origin. Interestingly, the pair originally sought out Alison Moyet and Kim Wilde to perform vocal duties, but Moyet didn't happen and Wilde apparently went on too many vacations to be a reliable addition. With Morris' dislike of singing drummers (Phil Collins and Don Henley specifically make him sick) Gilbert was recruited to provide the voice for the group. Most of the material appearing on their two albums, The Other Two &amp; You (1993) and Super Highways (1999) is part re-purposed stuff and left-over stuff cobbled together from the various television and soundtrack work the duo has authored over the years. The track here, "Loved It (The Other Track)" was the last song on their debut album and appeared only on CD releases.                      Last, but not least is a woman who outsold Madonna in many countries during the mid-80s. Her name is Sandra Ann Lauer - Sandra - as her legions of fans know her, and is one of two artists in this episode to have collaborated with Michael Cretu, with one of them eventually marrying the producer extraordinaire. Can you guess which one? (Hint: it's not Peter Schilling) Formerly the lead singer of a disco trio called Arabesque, she also provided vocals on the string of Enigma albums released in the 90s and beyond. The track here, "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena was the lead single from her debut album The Long Play, which was released in 1985. While having a rather striking resemblance to Laura Branigan and Italian singer Raf's huge hit "Self Control" from a year earlier, this track went on to become a #1 hit in 21 countries around the world. It was re-released in 1993 with much more techno elements and a futuristic video, but it flopped signaling the start of her career decline from it's lofty peak. She is, however, still recording music to moderate success.Thus endeth the lesson and this episode. Until next time, Happy Listening!

1. Love Is All That Matters - The Human League 2. In The Name Of Love - Naked Eyes 3. What He Say - Ministry 4. Too Shy (Midnight Mix) - Kajagoogoo 5. (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena (Extended Version) - Sandra 6. Jet Set (Jellybean Mix) - Alphaville 7. Some People (Special Club Mix) - Belouis Some 8. World In My Eyes (Oil Tank Mix) - Depeche Mode 9. Vanishing Point - New Order 10. Boy (Original 12" Version) - Book Of Love 11. Probably A Robbery (12 Gauge Turbo) - Renegade Soundwave 12. Count To Three (House Mix) - Red Flag 13. Loved It (The Other Track) - The Other Two 14. Different Story (World Of Lust And Crime) (Long Version) - Peter Schilling 15. This Occupation (Extended Mix) - China Crisis Notes and other random things: So, how often does a band release a non-hit to promote an upcoming Greatest Hits compilation? I don't know the answer exactly, but it can't be very often. Still, The Human League did just that with the first track in this episode. Truth be told, "Love Is All That Matters" did reach #41 in the UK, but this particular song was aimed at US audiences specifically due to the fact the that "Human", the first single from the album Crash, went to #1 in the States. Sadly, the track failed to chart in America. Oddly enough, the song, which was the third single off the album, was released almost two years after the album itself, which made it more of a promotion for the upcoming Greatest Hits package. Accompanying the song's release was a cheaply-made clips video, perpetuating the notion that the group's label was not willing to invest much more in the band, with their having reached a low point creatively. It's why the band was flown to Minneapolis in the first place to work with renowned producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, mega-producers responsible for the meteoric rise of Janet Jackson and others. While the parties got along personally, professionally the sessions were a total power struggle. Lead singer Phil Oakey said of the pairing, "We like to be in control in the studio. We don't like giving that up to a producer. That's why we had a big, final argument, and we just decided to go home and leave them to finish it off. It just got to the point of who had the power, and in that instance...They were the men behind the mixing console, so they had ultimate control." Jam and Lewis had notoriously rejected much of the band's material in favor of their own, even replacing keyboardists Philip Adrian Wright and Ian Burden. Wright was so humiliated, he quit the band upon their return to the UK and Burden shortly thereafter. Still, despite the power struggle, Oakey now admits that this record saved their careers, despite feeling as if its not truly their album. Whatever the case, "Love Is All That Matters" is a terrific song, which is why I chose to feature it here. Naked Eyes has not often shown up in these podcasts, mostly because I do not own any remixes by the group. (Insert audible gasp here). While their music is fantastic, it seems there was always something there to remind me that other releases took precedence over filling gaps in the Naked Eyes portion of my music collection. (You see what I did there!) Thank goodness for looping then, right? At least it gives me a chance to feature SOMETHING by these guys. In this instance, I chose "(What) In the Name of Love" from 1984's Fuel for the Fire album. It was the second full-length release from the group that was origially conceived as a duo featuring Pete Byrne on vocals and counterpart Rob Fisher on keyboards. Originally in a band called Neon with future Tears For Fears progenitors, Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, that collaboration was short-lived, but it gave fans of 80s music two great bands at the expense of one, which is not a bad thing at all. And though you may hear lots of wacky stories from those who lived through the decade of excess, one thing you'll never hear anyone say is "I remember seeing Naked Eyes live." Though Pete Byrne has said they expected to tour after their first album, but their record label wanted them to produce more studio material, many believe that the complexity of their music prevented them from ever touring. They were one of the early adopters of the Fairlight CMI and Emulator sampling synthesizers and, because of the sheer bulk of the equipment back then and the limitations those synthesizers possessed with regard to memory and sequencing ability, it was considered almost impossible to recreate their songs in a live setting. These were digital sound reproductions, not analog or reel-to-reel reproductions as bands like Depeche Mode used on stage for percussion early in their careers. So, much like Visage before them, the band was strictly a studio creation. After the second album, Byrne and Fisher took a hiatus from Naked Eyes to pursue other musical interests, but left the partnership open-ended. They had always planned to get back together to write more songs. The moment arrived in 1999, but sadly the sessions were interrupted when Rob Fisher died of complications from surgery. Still, Byrne has carried on and Naked Eyes in its current incarnation has been playing live shows across America from Hollywood to Carnegie Hall, has performed on PBS and has put out both a live concert DVD and a critically-acclaimed ten-song acoustic collection. An all-new studio album is apparently forthcoming as well. Maybe it will have some remixes! Anyone with a working knowledge of Ministry and Alain Jourgensen knows the group has gone through a fairly massive transformation from their early days as a new wave/synthpop group to the thrash metal juggernaut that tore up venues with punishing guitar-laden sounds from mid-90s to the present. To anyone else, it would seem that the Ministry appearing in this podcast is not even the same group as the current incarnation. Heck, it's still hard for me to connect the dots between point A and point B, but for Jourgensen that would probably be the preferable scenario. He has repeatedly said his previous persona, that of a clean-cut kid sporting new wave duds and singing with a fake British accent was a mistake, disavowing any willfulness on his part to produce such a monstrously "awful" album as With Sympathy, the source for "What He Say", the track that appears here. He has held tight to the notion that Arista records was solely responsible for the direction the band took on that first full-length release, though his wife at the time was quoted as saying "...the English accent thing was more an homage to the bands he loved than anything else. He was not trying to come off as British. The Stones used a southern accent and no one crawled up their ass for it." Regardless, With Sympathy is an excellent slice of new wave bliss despite the fact that its creator denies having anything to do with it. Out of print for quite a while (Jourgensen has said on several occasions that he destroyed the original master tapes) the album was reissued in 2012 with three bonus tracks. The Other Two, if memory serves (and it may not) has not yet appeared in CRC. The group consists of Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, husband and wife, drummer and keyboardist respectively of New Order and both critical components to the success of that band. Morris also drummed for Joy Division. Morris has said there is no real mystery to The Other Two band name "We're crap at names, and it was getting late" is his explanation of its origin. Interestingly, the pair originally sought out Alison Moyet and Kim Wilde to perform vocal duties, but Moyet didn't happen and Wilde apparently went on too many vacations to be a reliable addition. With Morris' dislike of singing drummers (Phil Collins and Don Henley specifically make him sick) Gilbert was recruited to provide the voice for the group. Most of the material appearing on their two albums, The Other Two &amp; You (1993) and Super Highways (1999) is part re-purposed stuff and left-over stuff cobbled together from the various television and soundtrack work the duo has authored over the years. The track here, "Loved It (The Other Track)" was the last song on their debut album and appeared only on CD releases. Last, but not least is a woman who outsold Madonna in many countries during the mid-80s. Her name is Sandra Ann Lauer - Sandra - as her legions of fans know her, and is one of two artists in this episode to have collaborated with Michael Cretu, with one of them eventually marrying the producer extraordinaire. Can you guess which one? (Hint: it's not Peter Schilling) Formerly the lead singer of a disco trio called Arabesque, she also provided vocals on the string of Enigma albums released in the 90s and beyond. The track here, "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena was the lead single from her debut album The Long Play, which was released in 1985. While having a rather striking resemblance to Laura Branigan and Italian singer Raf's huge hit "Self Control" from a year earlier, this track went on to become a #1 hit in 21 countries around the world. It was re-released in 1993 with much more techno elements and a futuristic video, but it flopped signaling the start of her career decline from it's lofty peak. She is, however, still recording music to moderate success. Thus endeth the lesson and this episode. Until next time, Happy Listening!

CRC Retro Mix #47

Think you know all there is to know about new wave, pop, synthpop, and early electronica from the 80s and 90s? Think again. Groove to a continuous mix of some of the great retro dance club classics, forgotten gems and rarities from one of music's greatest eras. Pop your collar, strap on a Swatch or five and enjoy! 

1. Beat Dis - Bomb The Bass2. Hello (Honky Tonk Mix) - The Beloved3. Say It (Disco Citizen Mix) - ABC4. Good Life (Indulgence Mix) - Inner City5. Left To My Own Devices (New Toy Mix) - Pet Shop Boys6. World (World In Action Mix) - New Order7. Heart - Pet Shop Boys8. That Way Again - Seven Red Seven9. World In My Eyes (Sensoria Mix) - Depeche Mode10. Don't Let My Love - T4211. Oh L'amour (The Funky Sisters Remix) - Erasure12. Pleasure Boys (Razormaid! Mix) - Visage13. Images Of Heaven (Razormaid! Mix) - Peter Godwin14. In Blue ... DJ (Razormaid! Mix) - Data15. New Gold Dream (Razormaid! Mix) - Simple MindsNotes and other random things: First, apologies to Kon Kan fans. I had fully intended to include a remix of "I Beg Your Pardon" in this episode. But I didn't. Why? Well, I've found that early Sunday mornings are about the most opportune time for me to record podcasts now - really early. And in my half-awake, half-asleep state I cued up the wrong tune. In all my years of DJ-ing/podcasting, I can't ever recall cuing up a song I had no intention of using. It's funny, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the beats wouldn't match and it wasn't until 3 or so minutes later that I realized I was cuing up the wrong tune. At that point, I didn't have enough time to switch to a different song, so I just went with it. So, for all you Pet Shop Boys fans out there, you get two PSB tunes in this podcast with only a single song separating them. It works, I suppose, but I generally prefer to use only one song per artist in each 'cast. I guess there's a first time for everything, right?Speaking of a first time for everything, after 45 episodes, Bomb The Bass finally appears in song form and not in a production or remix vein. I alluded to "Beat Dis" in episode #41 as CRC featured the Bomb The Bass Mix of Depeche Mode's song "Strangelove" as the lead-off track. One of the early dance tracks to incorporate sampling into the mix, "Beat Dis" was the first single from Bomb The Bass (aka Tim Simenon) and had upwards of 72 samples contained within. Along with ground-breaking tracks, "Pump Up the Volume" by MARRS and "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express, "Beat Dis" heralded the arrival of sampling as a viable artform. The track was huge in Europe, reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart. It also peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart for one solitary week, marking the only charted hit for Bomb The Bass in the United States. I have a real soft spot for the track I'd like to mention next. The band is T42 and the track is "Don't Let My Love". These guys were on the upswing and on the cusp of breaking out in a big way from the Dallas-Ft.Worth market during my time there in the early 90s. Orignally a duo consisting of Jay Gillian and Jimron Goff, vocalist Will Loconto supplanted Goff as the lead singer in 1989. After the release of a cassette EP (remember those?) called Hot On Top, they gained steady airplay on 94.5 The Edge radio station, which was home to all the great alternative bands back in the day. One of my many record store haunts back then, Oak Lawn Records picked up the band for a 12" single of "Don't Let My Love", which did well enough to attract the attention of Columbia Records, who signed the group. They released the full-length album, Intruder, in 1992, which was produced by Paul Robb from Information Society. It's hard not to hear the similarities to Information Society on "Don't Let My Love" and other songs on the album as well. In an ironic twist, Loconto quit the band in 1993, setting out to work with Information Society. While Gillian brought in other musicians to keep the T42 fires burning, the band's star faded and the group melted wistfully into the retro ether. Still, they left behind some tasty pop sugar for our consumption, even doing a very respectable cover of "Let Me Go" by Heaven 17. If you're into upbeat electro-pop, Intruder is definitely worth a listen. And if you're from the DFW area, the album and this song should be a reminder of an excellent time when the DFW local music scene was king. Taken from his 1982 album of the same name, Peter Godwin's "Images In Heaven" resembles more of a cult classic than a bonafide mega-hit. Formerly a member of the short-lived glam rock band Metro, along with Duncan Browne and Sean Lyons, Godwin is probably best remembered for his solo effort, "Images In Heaven", though you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of devout new wave lovers who are very familiar with the song. David Bowie may argue the "best-remembered" point, as Metro's song "Criminal World" made enough of an impression on Mr. Stardust to induce a cover tune. Still, outside of 1983's Correspondence album and a Best Of compilation released in 1998 on Oglio Records, Godwin's scant musical output has always left new wave junkies wishing for something more. Something more ... also the sentiment I feel about Seven Red Seven. Chicago natives and band mates, Mitchell Adrian and David Michael, formed the group in the early 90s and had only a couple of releases issued to minor success before going on to production work for other musicians. However, their time together as a band produced one of the more under-rated and under-appreciated synth-pop albums in Shelter, which was released on Speed Records in 1991. The album included the song here, "That Way Again" and "Thinking Of You" (which appeared in remix form in CRC episode #34). Both were issued as singles. However, the rest of the album, much like Intruder by T42, is a synth-pop delight and a must-have for any synth-pop completist, especially for fans of Red Flag, Cause &amp; Effect, Anything Box, Cetu Javu and others. The group would record just one more album, Bass State Coma, in 1994, and an interesting cover of "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder before moving into the production field. Truly a shame their total musical output was not much, much greater. P.S. Go buy Shelter! The last band I'd like to mention in this episode is the band Data. Fronted by Georg Kajanus, who made waves in the 70s with his band Sailor, Kajanus left Sailor in 1978 to dabble in electronic music. From this, Data was born. The track here, In Blue ... DJ, is a hybrid mix by Razormaid! Records of a couple of tracks from Data's third and final album, Elegant Machinery. Their other releases include 1983's 2-Time and 1981's Opera Electronica. In 1995, Eternity Records released a compilation album called Accumulator containing the second and third albums in their entirety plus the track "Fallout" from the Opera Electronica album.  That's it for this episode. I'll be back soon with another new episode. Thanks for listening!

1. Beat Dis - Bomb The Bass 2. Hello (Honky Tonk Mix) - The Beloved 3. Say It (Disco Citizen Mix) - ABC 4. Good Life (Indulgence Mix) - Inner City 5. Left To My Own Devices (New Toy Mix) - Pet Shop Boys 6. World (World In Action Mix) - New Order 7. Heart - Pet Shop Boys 8. That Way Again - Seven Red Seven 9. World In My Eyes (Sensoria Mix) - Depeche Mode 10. Don't Let My Love - T42 11. Oh L'amour (The Funky Sisters Remix) - Erasure 12. Pleasure Boys (Razormaid! Mix) - Visage 13. Images Of Heaven (Razormaid! Mix) - Peter Godwin 14. In Blue ... DJ (Razormaid! Mix) - Data 15. New Gold Dream (Razormaid! Mix) - Simple Minds Notes and other random things: First, apologies to Kon Kan fans. I had fully intended to include a remix of "I Beg Your Pardon" in this episode. But I didn't. Why? Well, I've found that early Sunday mornings are about the most opportune time for me to record podcasts now - really early. And in my half-awake, half-asleep state I cued up the wrong tune. In all my years of DJ-ing/podcasting, I can't ever recall cuing up a song I had no intention of using. It's funny, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why the beats wouldn't match and it wasn't until 3 or so minutes later that I realized I was cuing up the wrong tune. At that point, I didn't have enough time to switch to a different song, so I just went with it. So, for all you Pet Shop Boys fans out there, you get two PSB tunes in this podcast with only a single song separating them. It works, I suppose, but I generally prefer to use only one song per artist in each 'cast. I guess there's a first time for everything, right? Speaking of a first time for everything, after 45 episodes, Bomb The Bass finally appears in song form and not in a production or remix vein. I alluded to "Beat Dis" in episode #41 as CRC featured the Bomb The Bass Mix of Depeche Mode's song "Strangelove" as the lead-off track. One of the early dance tracks to incorporate sampling into the mix, "Beat Dis" was the first single from Bomb The Bass (aka Tim Simenon) and had upwards of 72 samples contained within. Along with ground-breaking tracks, "Pump Up the Volume" by MARRS and "Theme from S'Express" by S'Express, "Beat Dis" heralded the arrival of sampling as a viable artform. The track was huge in Europe, reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart. It also peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart for one solitary week, marking the only charted hit for Bomb The Bass in the United States. I have a real soft spot for the track I'd like to mention next. The band is T42 and the track is "Don't Let My Love". These guys were on the upswing and on the cusp of breaking out in a big way from the Dallas-Ft.Worth market during my time there in the early 90s. Orignally a duo consisting of Jay Gillian and Jimron Goff, vocalist Will Loconto supplanted Goff as the lead singer in 1989. After the release of a cassette EP (remember those?) called Hot On Top, they gained steady airplay on 94.5 The Edge radio station, which was home to all the great alternative bands back in the day. One of my many record store haunts back then, Oak Lawn Records picked up the band for a 12" single of "Don't Let My Love", which did well enough to attract the attention of Columbia Records, who signed the group. They released the full-length album, Intruder, in 1992, which was produced by Paul Robb from Information Society. It's hard not to hear the similarities to Information Society on "Don't Let My Love" and other songs on the album as well. In an ironic twist, Loconto quit the band in 1993, setting out to work with Information Society. While Gillian brought in other musicians to keep the T42 fires burning, the band's star faded and the group melted wistfully into the retro ether. Still, they left behind some tasty pop sugar for our consumption, even doing a very respectable cover of "Let Me Go" by Heaven 17. If you're into upbeat electro-pop, Intruder is definitely worth a listen. And if you're from the DFW area, the album and this song should be a reminder of an excellent time when the DFW local music scene was king. Taken from his 1982 album of the same name, Peter Godwin's "Images In Heaven" resembles more of a cult classic than a bonafide mega-hit. Formerly a member of the short-lived glam rock band Metro, along with Duncan Browne and Sean Lyons, Godwin is probably best remembered for his solo effort, "Images In Heaven", though you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of devout new wave lovers who are very familiar with the song. David Bowie may argue the "best-remembered" point, as Metro's song "Criminal World" made enough of an impression on Mr. Stardust to induce a cover tune. Still, outside of 1983's Correspondence album and a Best Of compilation released in 1998 on Oglio Records, Godwin's scant musical output has always left new wave junkies wishing for something more. Something more ... also the sentiment I feel about Seven Red Seven. Chicago natives and band mates, Mitchell Adrian and David Michael, formed the group in the early 90s and had only a couple of releases issued to minor success before going on to production work for other musicians. However, their time together as a band produced one of the more under-rated and under-appreciated synth-pop albums in Shelter, which was released on Speed Records in 1991. The album included the song here, "That Way Again" and "Thinking Of You" (which appeared in remix form in CRC episode #34). Both were issued as singles. However, the rest of the album, much like Intruder by T42, is a synth-pop delight and a must-have for any synth-pop completist, especially for fans of Red Flag, Cause &amp; Effect, Anything Box, Cetu Javu and others. The group would record just one more album, Bass State Coma, in 1994, and an interesting cover of "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder before moving into the production field. Truly a shame their total musical output was not much, much greater. P.S. Go buy Shelter! The last band I'd like to mention in this episode is the band Data. Fronted by Georg Kajanus, who made waves in the 70s with his band Sailor, Kajanus left Sailor in 1978 to dabble in electronic music. From this, Data was born. The track here, In Blue ... DJ, is a hybrid mix by Razormaid! Records of a couple of tracks from Data's third and final album, Elegant Machinery. Their other releases include 1983's 2-Time and 1981's Opera Electronica. In 1995, Eternity Records released a compilation album called Accumulator containing the second and third albums in their entirety plus the track "Fallout" from the Opera Electronica album. That's it for this episode. I'll be back soon with another new episode. Thanks for listening!

CRC Retro Mix #46

1. Tora! Tora! Tora! - Depeche Mode2. Brother And Sister - Erasure3. God Tonight (Art Of Mix) - Real Life4. I Get Excited (Razormaid! Mix) - Pet Shop Boys5. A Kind Of Tragedy - Celebrate The Nun6. Your Tears (Razormaid! Mix) - Echo Romeo7. Hurt - Re-Flex8. 5-8-6 (Razormaid! Mix) - New Order9. Cubik (Kings County Dub) - 808 State10. Disappointed (808 Mix) - Electronic11. Think (Virtual Reality Mix) - Information Society12. Creation (Ultimatum Mix) - Stereo MC's13. Train Of Thought (Extended Mix) - A-ha14. Tesla Girls (Razormaid! Mix) - OMD15. Reap The Wild Wind (Extended Version) - UltravoxNotes and other random things:Starting off this podcast is a song that may not be familiar to non-Depeche Mode fans - or about four of you. The phrase itself is notable for its connection to Pearl Harbor. The word "tora" literally means tiger in Japanese, though in a WWII context it is radio code for "totsugeki raigeki", meaning lightning attack. In a Depeche Mode, context, however, the song is also notable as it is one of only two Martin Gore-penned songs appearing on the band's debut: Speak &amp; Spell. (the other was the instrumental track, Big Muff). As most of you probably know, Vince Clarke, who later went on to form Yaz and Erasure, was an original member of DM and its primary songwriter before leaving the group shortly after the release of their first record. Gore would take over songwriting duties after that. Tora! Tora! Tora!, while not one of the most well-known or provocative songs in the DM catalog, provides a tantalizing, albeit brief, glimpse into the mind of Martin Gore and all that was to come. As a side note, a live version of Tora! Tora! Tora! appears on the 12" version of the song "Get The Balance Right". It was the first live track to appear on any DM single. A limited edition version of GTBR contained several more live tracks, making it the first DM single to appear in a limited edition format.Speaking of Vince Clarke and Erasure, the second song in this 'cast, "Brother &amp; Sister" is, in my humble opinion the best track on the band's Wild! album, which dropped in 1989, and perhaps one of their best tracks, period. Considered one of the stronger Erasure albums from stem to stern by many fans, Wild! is enigmatic in the sense that, for whatever reason, it didn't strike a chord with American audiences. Coming immediately on the heels of The Innocents from only a year earlier, an album which contained the massive hits "Chains Of Love" and "A Little Respect" one would think that the next album would have more appeal stateside. Yet, not even great songs like "Drama!, "Star" or "Blue Savannah", (#4, #11, #3 respectively in the UK) sniffed the American singles charts. The band wouldn't see the American charts again until the release of "Chorus" in 1991. On another side note, it was around that time that I got to meet Andy Bell. It was at a hotel bar in downtown Fort Worth, Texas after a concert. While I didn't attend the concert, I had a friend who worked at the hotel tip me off that Andy would be in the bar area sometime after the show. Three other friends and I piled into our car and headed for the hotel. When we arrived, there was a rather large throng of people waiting outside, hoping to get in to catch a glimpse of the band. We showed up well after the fact, walked right in the front entrance and took a seat at a table in the bar area. Nobody even inquired whether or not we had a room at the hotel (we didn't). About 15-20 minutes later, Andy and a couple members of his entourage took a seat at a table near us. We mumbled among ourselves, starstruck as ever. It took about another 15 minutes for us to get enough courage to walk over and ask for an autograph. As we were the only other people in the bar, he kindly obliged. We didn't linger or ask a bunch of questions. We simply said how much we loved Erasure's music and thanked him for the autograph. Then we returned to our table. He appeared exhausted from the show and I think he truly appreciated the fact we didn't press the issue.While many stateside think of Re-Flex as a one-hit wonder thanks to their international smash, "The Politics Of Dancing", the fact is the band had five other singles chart in various countries around the world, including the track "Hurt", which appears here. Reaching #82 in the US back in 1983, the song is largely forgotten or overlooked by all but die-hard fans at this point in time, but it's a fantastic pop gem by any standard and deserves to be heard. Re-Flex were formed in the early 1980s by musicians Baxter on vocals and guitar and Paul Fishman on keyboards and backing vocals, and included Francois Craig on bass, and two successive drummers, Phil Gould and Mark King, both of Level 42 fame. Following King's exit, Roland Vaughn Kerridge took over on drums and later, after Craig’s departure, Thomas Dolby introduced ex-Gloria Mundi bass player Nigel Ross-Scott to the band, thus completing Re-Flex's final and perhaps best-known line-up. Though the group stopped working together in 1987, they have never officially split up. If you are a fan, it might interest you to know that in 2010, Re-Flex band members released a 6 CD box set entitled 'Re-Fuse'. The set includes a re-mastered version of their debut album, The Politics of Dancing, and five CDs of other previously unreleased material. One of those five discs is their sophomore effort called Humanication which, somewhat ironically, was shelved by EMI before its release as it was deemed ... wait for it ... too political. And speaking of pop perfection, OMD's "Tesla Girls" would have to qualify. Though it's one of the definitive club tracks in the band's catalog, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys found it exceptionally difficult to come up with a version that they knew to be "right". At the time, the band's confidence had bottomed-out after the release of their fourth album, Dazzle Ships, and the group struggled to produce new music they felt was up to their lofty standards. Inspired by Yugoslavian-born scientist Nikola Tesla, who developed the alternating current, and armed with a title suggested to the group by musician Martha Ladly, "Tesla Girls" went through endless revisions and multiple adaptations during umpteen recording sessions for their fifth album, Junk Culture. Even after creating what would become the album version of the song, McCluskey recorded two new versions and even attempted to remix the original studio recording before admitting defeat and signing off on the version we've all come to love ... except for "Kids In America" singer Kim Wilde, who called the tune "inane and monotonous". Still, in 1984 the track reached #21 in the UK and has become a classic. By the way, the "No, No, No" vocal sample was done by Maureen Humphreys, Paul's wife at the time. Last, but never least, you may be wondering about the title 5-8-6 by New Order. The song was originally conceived out of Factory Records' head, Tony Wilson, requesting "twenty minutes of pap" from the band. From that directive was borne a 23-minute instrumental titled "Video 5-8-6". The song contained many elements that would surface in various songs on NO's debut album, Power, Corruption and Lies, including their best-selling club hit, "Blue Monday". The song would eventually be distilled down to the vocal version of the song most fans are familiar with. Bassist Peter Hook has stated that the title comes from the bar structure found in the track "Ecstasy". The track went on to chart at #86 on the British Singles Chart and #19 on the British Indie Chart. It also went on to become a classic among classics in the New Order catalog.        Welp, another episode in the books. I'll be back with another soon. Thanks for listening!

1. Tora! Tora! Tora! - Depeche Mode 2. Brother And Sister - Erasure 3. God Tonight (Art Of Mix) - Real Life 4. I Get Excited (Razormaid! Mix) - Pet Shop Boys 5. A Kind Of Tragedy - Celebrate The Nun 6. Your Tears (Razormaid! Mix) - Echo Romeo 7. Hurt - Re-Flex 8. 5-8-6 (Razormaid! Mix) - New Order 9. Cubik (Kings County Dub) - 808 State 10. Disappointed (808 Mix) - Electronic 11. Think (Virtual Reality Mix) - Information Society 12. Creation (Ultimatum Mix) - Stereo MC's 13. Train Of Thought (Extended Mix) - A-ha 14. Tesla Girls (Razormaid! Mix) - OMD 15. Reap The Wild Wind (Extended Version) - Ultravox Notes and other random things: Starting off this podcast is a song that may not be familiar to non-Depeche Mode fans - or about four of you. The phrase itself is notable for its connection to Pearl Harbor. The word "tora" literally means tiger in Japanese, though in a WWII context it is radio code for "totsugeki raigeki", meaning lightning attack. In a Depeche Mode, context, however, the song is also notable as it is one of only two Martin Gore-penned songs appearing on the band's debut: Speak &amp; Spell. (the other was the instrumental track, Big Muff). As most of you probably know, Vince Clarke, who later went on to form Yaz and Erasure, was an original member of DM and its primary songwriter before leaving the group shortly after the release of their first record. Gore would take over songwriting duties after that. Tora! Tora! Tora!, while not one of the most well-known or provocative songs in the DM catalog, provides a tantalizing, albeit brief, glimpse into the mind of Martin Gore and all that was to come. As a side note, a live version of Tora! Tora! Tora! appears on the 12" version of the song "Get The Balance Right". It was the first live track to appear on any DM single. A limited edition version of GTBR contained several more live tracks, making it the first DM single to appear in a limited edition format. Speaking of Vince Clarke and Erasure, the second song in this 'cast, "Brother &amp; Sister" is, in my humble opinion the best track on the band's Wild! album, which dropped in 1989, and perhaps one of their best tracks, period. Considered one of the stronger Erasure albums from stem to stern by many fans, Wild! is enigmatic in the sense that, for whatever reason, it didn't strike a chord with American audiences. Coming immediately on the heels of The Innocents from only a year earlier, an album which contained the massive hits "Chains Of Love" and "A Little Respect" one would think that the next album would have more appeal stateside. Yet, not even great songs like "Drama!, "Star" or "Blue Savannah", (#4, #11, #3 respectively in the UK) sniffed the American singles charts. The band wouldn't see the American charts again until the release of "Chorus" in 1991. On another side note, it was around that time that I got to meet Andy Bell. It was at a hotel bar in downtown Fort Worth, Texas after a concert. While I didn't attend the concert, I had a friend who worked at the hotel tip me off that Andy would be in the bar area sometime after the show. Three other friends and I piled into our car and headed for the hotel. When we arrived, there was a rather large throng of people waiting outside, hoping to get in to catch a glimpse of the band. We showed up well after the fact, walked right in the front entrance and took a seat at a table in the bar area. Nobody even inquired whether or not we had a room at the hotel (we didn't). About 15-20 minutes later, Andy and a couple members of his entourage took a seat at a table near us. We mumbled among ourselves, starstruck as ever. It took about another 15 minutes for us to get enough courage to walk over and ask for an autograph. As we were the only other people in the bar, he kindly obliged. We didn't linger or ask a bunch of questions. We simply said how much we loved Erasure's music and thanked him for the autograph. Then we returned to our table. He appeared exhausted from the show and I think he truly appreciated the fact we didn't press the issue. While many stateside think of Re-Flex as a one-hit wonder thanks to their international smash, "The Politics Of Dancing", the fact is the band had five other singles chart in various countries around the world, including the track "Hurt", which appears here. Reaching #82 in the US back in 1983, the song is largely forgotten or overlooked by all but die-hard fans at this point in time, but it's a fantastic pop gem by any standard and deserves to be heard. Re-Flex were formed in the early 1980s by musicians Baxter on vocals and guitar and Paul Fishman on keyboards and backing vocals, and included Francois Craig on bass, and two successive drummers, Phil Gould and Mark King, both of Level 42 fame. Following King's exit, Roland Vaughn Kerridge took over on drums and later, after Craig’s departure, Thomas Dolby introduced ex-Gloria Mundi bass player Nigel Ross-Scott to the band, thus completing Re-Flex's final and perhaps best-known line-up. Though the group stopped working together in 1987, they have never officially split up. If you are a fan, it might interest you to know that in 2010, Re-Flex band members released a 6 CD box set entitled 'Re-Fuse'. The set includes a re-mastered version of their debut album, The Politics of Dancing, and five CDs of other previously unreleased material. One of those five discs is their sophomore effort called Humanication which, somewhat ironically, was shelved by EMI before its release as it was deemed ... wait for it ... too political. And speaking of pop perfection, OMD's "Tesla Girls" would have to qualify. Though it's one of the definitive club tracks in the band's catalog, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys found it exceptionally difficult to come up with a version that they knew to be "right". At the time, the band's confidence had bottomed-out after the release of their fourth album, Dazzle Ships, and the group struggled to produce new music they felt was up to their lofty standards. Inspired by Yugoslavian-born scientist Nikola Tesla, who developed the alternating current, and armed with a title suggested to the group by musician Martha Ladly, "Tesla Girls" went through endless revisions and multiple adaptations during umpteen recording sessions for their fifth album, Junk Culture. Even after creating what would become the album version of the song, McCluskey recorded two new versions and even attempted to remix the original studio recording before admitting defeat and signing off on the version we've all come to love ... except for "Kids In America" singer Kim Wilde, who called the tune "inane and monotonous". Still, in 1984 the track reached #21 in the UK and has become a classic. By the way, the "No, No, No" vocal sample was done by Maureen Humphreys, Paul's wife at the time. Last, but never least, you may be wondering about the title 5-8-6 by New Order. The song was originally conceived out of Factory Records' head, Tony Wilson, requesting "twenty minutes of pap" from the band. From that directive was borne a 23-minute instrumental titled "Video 5-8-6". The song contained many elements that would surface in various songs on NO's debut album, Power, Corruption and Lies, including their best-selling club hit, "Blue Monday". The song would eventually be distilled down to the vocal version of the song most fans are familiar with. Bassist Peter Hook has stated that the title comes from the bar structure found in the track "Ecstasy". The track went on to chart at #86 on the British Singles Chart and #19 on the British Indie Chart. It also went on to become a classic among classics in the New Order catalog. Welp, another episode in the books. I'll be back with another soon. Thanks for listening!

CRC Retro Mix #45

1. TV - Elektric Music2. Musique Non Stop - Kraftwerk3. That Smiling Face (German Band Version) - Camouflage4. Step On (Twistin My Melon Mix) - Happy Mondays5. Temptation (Part 2) - Gary Clail/On-U Sound System6. Need You Tonight (Mendelsohn Mix) - INXS7. Lie To Me - Depeche Mode8. Dame Tu Mano - Cetu Javu9. Confusion Instrumental - New Order10. Hip Hop Be Bop (12" Mix) - Man Parrish11. Certain Things Are Likely (Original 12" Version) - Kissing The Pink12. Don't Tell Me (Dance Remix) - Blancmange13. Kiss &amp; Tell (Dance Remix) - Bryan Ferry14. It's Me, Cathy (Follow My Heart) (Club Version) - Hubert KaH15. The Magician (Razormaid! Mix) - SecessionNotes and other random things:Some band notes on the way soon ...

1. TV - Elektric Music 2. Musique Non Stop - Kraftwerk 3. That Smiling Face (German Band Version) - Camouflage 4. Step On (Twistin My Melon Mix) - Happy Mondays 5. Temptation (Part 2) - Gary Clail/On-U Sound System 6. Need You Tonight (Mendelsohn Mix) - INXS 7. Lie To Me - Depeche Mode 8. Dame Tu Mano - Cetu Javu 9. Confusion Instrumental - New Order 10. Hip Hop Be Bop (12" Mix) - Man Parrish 11. Certain Things Are Likely (Original 12" Version) - Kissing The Pink 12. Don't Tell Me (Dance Remix) - Blancmange 13. Kiss &amp; Tell (Dance Remix) - Bryan Ferry 14. It's Me, Cathy (Follow My Heart) (Club Version) - Hubert KaH 15. The Magician (Razormaid! Mix) - Secession Notes and other random things: Some band notes on the way soon ...

CRC Retro Mix #44

1. I Want You - Utah Saints2. Hallucination Generation (Syametic Nightmare) - Gruesome Twosome3. Salvation (Razormaid! Mix) - The Hood4. State Of The Nation - New Order5. Happiest Girl (Jack Mix) - Depeche Mode6. You Make Me Wonder (Razormaid! Mix) - Celebrate The Nun7. What Do You See (Arabian House Mix) - Cause &amp; Effect8. LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Beatmasters 12" Mix) - The Shamen9. Lucky Charm (Extended Club Mix) - Hard Corps10. Send Me An Angel '89 (Dance Mix) - Real Life11. We Came To Dance (12" Version) - Ultravox12. The Calling (Full Extended 12" Mix) - Ken Heaven13. We Are The Boys (Razormaid! Mix) - Until December14. The Sound Of The Crowd (12" Version) (Complete) - The Human League15. My Translucent Hands (No. II) - I Start Counting  Notes and other random things: Well, here it is. My first brand new podcast in nearly seven months. Where does the time go? They say patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait and I think this one was worth waiting for. A good blend of the familiar and the not-so-familiar; some things you may remember and some you've long since forgotten or maybe never heard in your entire life.Before I get to a few band notes, I want to mention that I have now upgraded my account back to a Pro account. I just couldn't bear the thought that people were actually making a point of coming to this site to listen to the music only to be told by a pre-recorded message that they could not because of bandwidth limitations. What does that mean for you all? It means no more running out of bandwidth two days after I post a new episode. With apologies to the Pet Shop Boys it means more "opportunities" to listen and to download when you have time. It means more storage, so I don't have to delete the audio from an older podcast just to post a new one. (You may have already noticed I've re-posted some of the more recent back-catalog episodes). Over time, I will add more of them. For long-time listeners, it's a chance to re-visit some of the older stuff from "back in the day". For newer listeners, it will be like a glut of new podcasts to check out.I also want to note that I've removed the audio for my previous episode (CRC #42) as the recording levels were all over the map and I didn't think the quality was up to snuff. Perhaps 5 or 6 years ago, it would have been okay, I suppose, but even in light of the cheap mixer and free recording software I use to assemble these 'casts, I think this podcast has come too far now and demands a higher level of quality. So, I may re-record that one at a future date. At that point, I'll re-post. Same for back-catalog items. The really good ones, I'll re-post. The ones that could use a little work will most likely be re-recorded and re-posted as a "reboot" episode. All in all, thank you all again for tuning in. Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2017!Now on to the bands ...  If you've been a follower of this podcast since the beginning and you've clung to the belief that, against all probability, the thrash metal band, Slayer, would somehow make its presence felt at some point then your patience has finally been rewarded. And you should book your ticket to Vegas immediately. Taking a riff from the group's tune, "War Ensemble", "I Want You" was one of four Top-25 hits for Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt on Utah Saints' self-titled debut. The duo were at the pioneering edge of sampling, also grabbing a snippet of Kate Bush from her track Cloudbusting for the song "Something Good" and a soundbite from the inimitable Annie Lennox from her song "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" for the track "What Can You Do For Me". Called "the first true Stadium House band" by Bill Drummond of The KLF, Utah Saints were one of the first rave acts to play live and one I had the good fortune to see on the same bill with The Shamen in the early 90s during the rave culture explosion. And let me tell you: it was quite a show ... probably.I first heard "Salvation" by The Hood sometime in 1989 while in college. A guy who lived down the hall from me had a version of it on an old mix tape. I really liked the track and was pleased as punch when the first of many Razormaid! discs from my nascent subscription showed up in the mail containing a mix of that song. It is a portion of that 10+ minute version that appears here. I would soon come across a movie soundtrack of the same name while sifting through record bins at a local indie shop. New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, The Hood, hip-hop producer extraordinaire Arthur Baker and others appeared on the album, so I purchased it. While I've listened to the song "Salvation" umpteen times over the years, I did not know much about the band or its members. To this day, I still don't. I spent the better part of an hour trying to find information on the group, but mostly found song credits and track listings. Eventually, I did find a tiny bit of info on a website called The Lost Turntable. The info was posted by an Arthur Baker and a John Hood respectively, both of whom I can only assume to be the real article.      "the hood- is john hood, a legendary nyc party promoter-doorman,who is also quite a good writer. he was signed for a short time on the sire label and is active on the club scene in south beach, miami, florida""Wow! Yeah, that The Hood track is indeed me: John Hood. (Thanks AB!) And I'm delighted to find it posted. In fact, till right now I never even had an MP3 of the song! So if no one minds, I'll post this, save this, and send this around. Nice to find Salvation!"If anyone knows anything more about The Hood, I would LOVE to get a one-sheet or press kit or bio on them.Speaking of bands I don't know much about, Gruesome Twosome would qualify as well. Sort of a one-off project for founders Samy Birnbach from Minimal Compact (aka Lord Solomon Pearbrook) and Norwegian producer Per Martinsen, who had been recording under the name Syamese, "Hallucination Generation" is the only official single from the group and was released in 1989. A cult classic in its own right, the song sort of bridges the gap between traditional industrial dance music and the bourgeoning New Beat music scene that was starting to take hold at the time. Birnbach and Martinsen would later collaborate with the likes of Bertrand Burgalat, Thrash from The Orb, Paul Kendall and Fortran 5 to eventually release a full-length album called Candy From Strangers, which was released in 1993. Birnbach currently releases material under the DJ Morpheus moniker, having once worked with Colin Newman from Wire for a project called Oracle, while Martinsen performs as Mental Overdrive. While it's probably not the best analogy as they employed very different musical styles, Ultravox is much like the band Genesis in the sense that they have two distinct timelines, led by two distinctly different front men. And much like one could argue Peter Gabriel represented the true vision for Genesis, there is no denying that Phil Collins took the band to massive commercial heights and is probably remembered more readily as the face of the group. Similarly, one could argue that while John Foxx may have been the driving force behind Ultravox during their formative years, it was Midge Ure, who took over after Foxx left for a solo career, that kept the band from imploding and pushed them further into the mainstream and to massive success in the UK. With 7 Top-10 albums and 17 Top-10 singles, U-Vox, like many other bands of the day, took their cue from the glam rock outfits that came before such as Neu! In fact, early on Ultravox was known as Ultravox! (with an exclamation point) in deference to Neu! The first album with the classic line-up of Ure, Billy Currie, Warren Cann and Chris Cross would be the amazing Vienna, which marked a very different direction for the group. Produced by long-time Kraftwerk producer Conny Plank, the album included the title track, which would reach #2 in the UK and would be the highest charted song for the band. (John Lennon's "Woman" and "Shaddap You Face" by Joe Dolce would both keep the song from reaching #1). And while the 1982 album Quartet, produced by George Martin, would be the best-selling US album for U-Vox, the band would not again reach the level of critical success they found with Vienna. The song in this podcast is the 12" version of "We Came to Dance", the final single from Ultravox's sixth studio album, Quartet, released on April 18, 1983. The single reached #18 on the UK charts and was the last of seven consecutive top-20 singles for the band. This being the Christmas season, I would be derelict not to mention that Midge Ure also co-wrote (with Bob Geldof of Boomtown Rats fame) and produced the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid.Last but not least, I want to mention "State Of The Nation" by New Order. Though it reached #1 on the UK Indie Singles Chart and #30 on the UK Singles chart in 1986, the song is probably not a favorite of the majority of New Order fans. I would wager if every NO devotee were to compile a list of his or her Top 10 songs, it would probably appear in less than 5% of those lists. Still, the track is a great one even if only for the fact that it's one of the few NO songs whose title actually appears within the lyrics and/or chorus of the song. As most die-hard fans know, the titles of most NO tunes have little or no relevance to the subject matter being discussed. "Shellshock", "Regret", "Touched By The Hand Of God" and "Confusion" are a few songs I can think of off the top of my head that go against that grain. While the song did not appear on the album, Brotherhood, which was released around this time, both the remix version appearing here and the B-side called "Shame Of The Nation", which was produced by John Robie, appear on the Substance compilation, released in 1987. That will do it for this epidsode. I've got my next podcast ready to record. As soon as I find some time, I'll do just that. Happy Listening!

1. I Want You - Utah Saints 2. Hallucination Generation (Syametic Nightmare) - Gruesome Twosome 3. Salvation (Razormaid! Mix) - The Hood 4. State Of The Nation - New Order 5. Happiest Girl (Jack Mix) - Depeche Mode 6. You Make Me Wonder (Razormaid! Mix) - Celebrate The Nun 7. What Do You See (Arabian House Mix) - Cause &amp; Effect 8. LSI (Love Sex Intelligence) (Beatmasters 12" Mix) - The Shamen 9. Lucky Charm (Extended Club Mix) - Hard Corps 10. Send Me An Angel '89 (Dance Mix) - Real Life 11. We Came To Dance (12" Version) - Ultravox 12. The Calling (Full Extended 12" Mix) - Ken Heaven 13. We Are The Boys (Razormaid! Mix) - Until December 14. The Sound Of The Crowd (12" Version) (Complete) - The Human League 15. My Translucent Hands (No. II) - I Start Counting Notes and other random things: Well, here it is. My first brand new podcast in nearly seven months. Where does the time go? They say patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait and I think this one was worth waiting for. A good blend of the familiar and the not-so-familiar; some things you may remember and some you've long since forgotten or maybe never heard in your entire life. Before I get to a few band notes, I want to mention that I have now upgraded my account back to a Pro account. I just couldn't bear the thought that people were actually making a point of coming to this site to listen to the music only to be told by a pre-recorded message that they could not because of bandwidth limitations. What does that mean for you all? It means no more running out of bandwidth two days after I post a new episode. With apologies to the Pet Shop Boys it means more "opportunities" to listen and to download when you have time. It means more storage, so I don't have to delete the audio from an older podcast just to post a new one. (You may have already noticed I've re-posted some of the more recent back-catalog episodes). Over time, I will add more of them. For long-time listeners, it's a chance to re-visit some of the older stuff from "back in the day". For newer listeners, it will be like a glut of new podcasts to check out. I also want to note that I've removed the audio for my previous episode (CRC #42) as the recording levels were all over the map and I didn't think the quality was up to snuff. Perhaps 5 or 6 years ago, it would have been okay, I suppose, but even in light of the cheap mixer and free recording software I use to assemble these 'casts, I think this podcast has come too far now and demands a higher level of quality. So, I may re-record that one at a future date. At that point, I'll re-post. Same for back-catalog items. The really good ones, I'll re-post. The ones that could use a little work will most likely be re-recorded and re-posted as a "reboot" episode. All in all, thank you all again for tuning in. Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2017! Now on to the bands ... If you've been a follower of this podcast since the beginning and you've clung to the belief that, against all probability, the thrash metal band, Slayer, would somehow make its presence felt at some point then your patience has finally been rewarded. And you should book your ticket to Vegas immediately. Taking a riff from the group's tune, "War Ensemble", "I Want You" was one of four Top-25 hits for Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt on Utah Saints' self-titled debut. The duo were at the pioneering edge of sampling, also grabbing a snippet of Kate Bush from her track Cloudbusting for the song "Something Good" and a soundbite from the inimitable Annie Lennox from her song "There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)" for the track "What Can You Do For Me". Called "the first true Stadium House band" by Bill Drummond of The KLF, Utah Saints were one of the first rave acts to play live and one I had the good fortune to see on the same bill with The Shamen in the early 90s during the rave culture explosion. And let me tell you: it was quite a show ... probably. I first heard "Salvation" by The Hood sometime in 1989 while in college. A guy who lived down the hall from me had a version of it on an old mix tape. I really liked the track and was pleased as punch when the first of many Razormaid! discs from my nascent subscription showed up in the mail containing a mix of that song. It is a portion of that 10+ minute version that appears here. I would soon come across a movie soundtrack of the same name while sifting through record bins at a local indie shop. New Order, Cabaret Voltaire, The Hood, hip-hop producer extraordinaire Arthur Baker and others appeared on the album, so I purchased it. While I've listened to the song "Salvation" umpteen times over the years, I did not know much about the band or its members. To this day, I still don't. I spent the better part of an hour trying to find information on the group, but mostly found song credits and track listings. Eventually, I did find a tiny bit of info on a website called The Lost Turntable. The info was posted by an Arthur Baker and a John Hood respectively, both of whom I can only assume to be the real article. "the hood- is john hood, a legendary nyc party promoter-doorman,who is also quite a good writer. he was signed for a short time on the sire label and is active on the club scene in south beach, miami, florida" "Wow! Yeah, that The Hood track is indeed me: John Hood. (Thanks AB!) And I'm delighted to find it posted. In fact, till right now I never even had an MP3 of the song! So if no one minds, I'll post this, save this, and send this around. Nice to find Salvation!" If anyone knows anything more about The Hood, I would LOVE to get a one-sheet or press kit or bio on them. Speaking of bands I don't know much about, Gruesome Twosome would qualify as well. Sort of a one-off project for founders Samy Birnbach from Minimal Compact (aka Lord Solomon Pearbrook) and Norwegian producer Per Martinsen, who had been recording under the name Syamese, "Hallucination Generation" is the only official single from the group and was released in 1989. A cult classic in its own right, the song sort of bridges the gap between traditional industrial dance music and the bourgeoning New Beat music scene that was starting to take hold at the time. Birnbach and Martinsen would later collaborate with the likes of Bertrand Burgalat, Thrash from The Orb, Paul Kendall and Fortran 5 to eventually release a full-length album called Candy From Strangers, which was released in 1993. Birnbach currently releases material under the DJ Morpheus moniker, having once worked with Colin Newman from Wire for a project called Oracle, while Martinsen performs as Mental Overdrive. While it's probably not the best analogy as they employed very different musical styles, Ultravox is much like the band Genesis in the sense that they have two distinct timelines, led by two distinctly different front men. And much like one could argue Peter Gabriel represented the true vision for Genesis, there is no denying that Phil Collins took the band to massive commercial heights and is probably remembered more readily as the face of the group. Similarly, one could argue that while John Foxx may have been the driving force behind Ultravox during their formative years, it was Midge Ure, who took over after Foxx left for a solo career, that kept the band from imploding and pushed them further into the mainstream and to massive success in the UK. With 7 Top-10 albums and 17 Top-10 singles, U-Vox, like many other bands of the day, took their cue from the glam rock outfits that came before such as Neu! In fact, early on Ultravox was known as Ultravox! (with an exclamation point) in deference to Neu! The first album with the classic line-up of Ure, Billy Currie, Warren Cann and Chris Cross would be the amazing Vienna, which marked a very different direction for the group. Produced by long-time Kraftwerk producer Conny Plank, the album included the title track, which would reach #2 in the UK and would be the highest charted song for the band. (John Lennon's "Woman" and "Shaddap You Face" by Joe Dolce would both keep the song from reaching #1). And while the 1982 album Quartet, produced by George Martin, would be the best-selling US album for U-Vox, the band would not again reach the level of critical success they found with Vienna. The song in this podcast is the 12" version of "We Came to Dance", the final single from Ultravox's sixth studio album, Quartet, released on April 18, 1983. The single reached #18 on the UK charts and was the last of seven consecutive top-20 singles for the band. This being the Christmas season, I would be derelict not to mention that Midge Ure also co-wrote (with Bob Geldof of Boomtown Rats fame) and produced the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid. Last but not least, I want to mention "State Of The Nation" by New Order. Though it reached #1 on the UK Indie Singles Chart and #30 on the UK Singles chart in 1986, the song is probably not a favorite of the majority of New Order fans. I would wager if every NO devotee were to compile a list of his or her Top 10 songs, it would probably appear in less than 5% of those lists. Still, the track is a great one even if only for the fact that it's one of the few NO songs whose title actually appears within the lyrics and/or chorus of the song. As most die-hard fans know, the titles of most NO tunes have little or no relevance to the subject matter being discussed. "Shellshock", "Regret", "Touched By The Hand Of God" and "Confusion" are a few songs I can think of off the top of my head that go against that grain. While the song did not appear on the album, Brotherhood, which was released around this time, both the remix version appearing here and the B-side called "Shame Of The Nation", which was produced by John Robie, appear on the Substance compilation, released in 1987. That will do it for this epidsode. I've got my next podcast ready to record. As soon as I find some time, I'll do just that. Happy Listening!

CRC Retro Mix #43

1. Ever So Lonely (Razormaid! Mix) - Monsoon2. Eyes Of A Stranger - Payolas3. Stripped (Highland Mix) - Depeche Mode4. Close To Me (Closer Mix) - The Cure5. Eye Wonder (Main Mix) - The Apples6. Justify My Love (Hip Hop Mix) - Madonna7. Truth Is Out Of Style (12" Mix) - MC 900 Ft. Jesus8. Dysfunctional Relationship (12" Mix) - Consolidated9. Get The Message (DNA Sin Mix) - Electronic10. Imagination (12" Version) - Belouis Some11. The Honeythief (12" Mix) - Hipsway12. We Move (Dance Mix) - Visage13. Don't Say No (Ruby Red Mix) - Erasure14. "Vous Le Vous" Medley (Razormaid! Mix) - DAF15. Los Ninos Del Parque - Liaisons DangereusesNotes and other random things:I re-recorded and re-posted this episode on 1/22/17 due to the poor recording levels on the original post. If you downloaded the previous version, you may want to delete that and download this one. It will be much more consistent from start to finish. Starting off this episode is the band Monsoon. While the term monsoon refers to a seasonal reversal of the wind and torrential downpours that occur in areas of SE Asia, it's an unfortunate name, in a sense, for the band led by Sheila Chandra as they produced but a trickle of pop-infused music before disbanding. Just 16 years old at the time of their only album release, Third Eye, in 1982, Chandra, producer Steve Coe and bassist Martin Smith struck proverbial gold with "Ever So Lonely", which peaked at #12 in the UK. They followed that with the song "Shakti", which rose to #41. However, those two songs would prove to be their only hits, though a cover version of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" also appeared on the full-length album and featured one Bill Nelson on the E-Bow. In refusing to tether their fortunes to a record label that demanded more hits, Coe and Smith were free to promote Chandra's solo career, which focused less on pop music and more on world music. She eventually signed with Peter Gabriel's Real World record label, releasing three solo albums in the 1990s. Sadly, Chandra today suffers from Burning Mouth Syndrome, an affliction with no underlying medical or dental cause that produces such severe pain when laughing, crying, speaking, singing, etc. that she was rendered mute and forced to give up her music career.Hailing from Vancouver, BC Canada, The Payolas produced one of the most breathtakingly sensual tracks of the 80s with their amazing song, "Eyes Of A Stranger". A fixture on the Canadian New Wave Scene from the late 70s through the 80s, the band was comprised primarily of core members Paul Hyde and Bob Rock, the latter of whom went on to become a mega-producer/engineer, working with such diverse artists as 311, Metallica, The Cult, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Our Lady Peace, The Tragically Hip and others. Taking their name from the Alan Freed payola scandal of the late 50s, the group won a Juno award for Single of the Year for Eyes Of A Stranger in 1983. (Rock, himself, has been nominated for 17 Juno awards in various musical categories including Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year) The track would later appear on the Valley Girl soundtrack, a soundtrack that, like Pretty In Pink after it, was great when soundtracks typically were not. Modern English, The Flirts, Men At Work, The Plimsouls, Josie Cotton, Eddy Grant, Gary Myrick and The Figures and others graced that soundtrack, which became a serious collector's item for a long while until being re-issued by Rhino Records in 1994.  Sticking with the music industry disillusionment theme from earlier, Mark Griffin (aka MC 900 Ft. Jesus), a music hero from my old stomping grounds of Dallas, Texas eventually quit the business after the release of his third album One Step Ahead Of The Spider, released in 1994. Thankfully he leaves a legacy, albeit brief one, of some of the better cult classics of the era including the arsonists lull-a-bye "The City Sleeps" from 1991's Welcome To My Dream album and the track appearing in this episode, the 12-inch mix of "Truth Is Out Of Style" from his 1989 debut album, Hell With The Lid Off. In case you were wondering, Griffin's stage name derived from a sermon by televangelist Oral Roberts, who claimed he was visited by a 900-foot tall image of Jesus, commanding him to erect a hospital on the campus of the university bearing his namesake. Despite his short music career, Griffin's American heritage at the very least was a blessing in disguise as MC 270-Meter Jesus somehow just doesn't have the same ring to it.               I'm going to end this here. I still have another podcast write-up to do and a couple of podcasts ready to record, so I'm going to have to end this here. Happy Listening!

1. Ever So Lonely (Razormaid! Mix) - Monsoon 2. Eyes Of A Stranger - Payolas 3. Stripped (Highland Mix) - Depeche Mode 4. Close To Me (Closer Mix) - The Cure 5. Eye Wonder (Main Mix) - The Apples 6. Justify My Love (Hip Hop Mix) - Madonna 7. Truth Is Out Of Style (12" Mix) - MC 900 Ft. Jesus 8. Dysfunctional Relationship (12" Mix) - Consolidated 9. Get The Message (DNA Sin Mix) - Electronic 10. Imagination (12" Version) - Belouis Some 11. The Honeythief (12" Mix) - Hipsway 12. We Move (Dance Mix) - Visage 13. Don't Say No (Ruby Red Mix) - Erasure 14. "Vous Le Vous" Medley (Razormaid! Mix) - DAF 15. Los Ninos Del Parque - Liaisons Dangereuses Notes and other random things: I re-recorded and re-posted this episode on 1/22/17 due to the poor recording levels on the original post. If you downloaded the previous version, you may want to delete that and download this one. It will be much more consistent from start to finish. Starting off this episode is the band Monsoon. While the term monsoon refers to a seasonal reversal of the wind and torrential downpours that occur in areas of SE Asia, it's an unfortunate name, in a sense, for the band led by Sheila Chandra as they produced but a trickle of pop-infused music before disbanding. Just 16 years old at the time of their only album release, Third Eye, in 1982, Chandra, producer Steve Coe and bassist Martin Smith struck proverbial gold with "Ever So Lonely", which peaked at #12 in the UK. They followed that with the song "Shakti", which rose to #41. However, those two songs would prove to be their only hits, though a cover version of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" also appeared on the full-length album and featured one Bill Nelson on the E-Bow. In refusing to tether their fortunes to a record label that demanded more hits, Coe and Smith were free to promote Chandra's solo career, which focused less on pop music and more on world music. She eventually signed with Peter Gabriel's Real World record label, releasing three solo albums in the 1990s. Sadly, Chandra today suffers from Burning Mouth Syndrome, an affliction with no underlying medical or dental cause that produces such severe pain when laughing, crying, speaking, singing, etc. that she was rendered mute and forced to give up her music career. Hailing from Vancouver, BC Canada, The Payolas produced one of the most breathtakingly sensual tracks of the 80s with their amazing song, "Eyes Of A Stranger". A fixture on the Canadian New Wave Scene from the late 70s through the 80s, the band was comprised primarily of core members Paul Hyde and Bob Rock, the latter of whom went on to become a mega-producer/engineer, working with such diverse artists as 311, Metallica, The Cult, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Our Lady Peace, The Tragically Hip and others. Taking their name from the Alan Freed payola scandal of the late 50s, the group won a Juno award for Single of the Year for Eyes Of A Stranger in 1983. (Rock, himself, has been nominated for 17 Juno awards in various musical categories including Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year) The track would later appear on the Valley Girl soundtrack, a soundtrack that, like Pretty In Pink after it, was great when soundtracks typically were not. Modern English, The Flirts, Men At Work, The Plimsouls, Josie Cotton, Eddy Grant, Gary Myrick and The Figures and others graced that soundtrack, which became a serious collector's item for a long while until being re-issued by Rhino Records in 1994. Sticking with the music industry disillusionment theme from earlier, Mark Griffin (aka MC 900 Ft. Jesus), a music hero from my old stomping grounds of Dallas, Texas eventually quit the business after the release of his third album One Step Ahead Of The Spider, released in 1994. Thankfully he leaves a legacy, albeit brief one, of some of the better cult classics of the era including the arsonists lull-a-bye "The City Sleeps" from 1991's Welcome To My Dream album and the track appearing in this episode, the 12-inch mix of "Truth Is Out Of Style" from his 1989 debut album, Hell With The Lid Off. In case you were wondering, Griffin's stage name derived from a sermon by televangelist Oral Roberts, who claimed he was visited by a 900-foot tall image of Jesus, commanding him to erect a hospital on the campus of the university bearing his namesake. Despite his short music career, Griffin's American heritage at the very least was a blessing in disguise as MC 270-Meter Jesus somehow just doesn't have the same ring to it. I'm going to end this here. I still have another podcast write-up to do and a couple of podcasts ready to record, so I'm going to have to end this here. Happy Listening!

CRC Retro Mix #42

1. Strangelove (Bomb The Bass) - Depeche Mode2. Keep On (Razormaid! Mix) - Cabaret Voltaire3. World In Motion (The B-Side) - England New Order4. Suicide Blonde (Milk Mix) - INXS5. Don't Talk To Me About Love (12" Mix) - Altered Images6. Quiet Life (12" Mix) - Japan7. Memorabilia (12" Mix) - Soft Cell8. Left To My Own Devices (New Toy Mix) - Pet Shop Boys9. Your Love Takes Me Higher (The Pod Went Pop Mix) - Beloved10. You Spin Me Round (Murder Mix) - Dead Or Alive11. Take Me Now (Razormaid! Mix) - Vicious Pink12. Sex (I'm A ... ) (Extended Version) - Berlin13. Girls On Film (Night Version) - Duran Duran14. Dance With Me (Long Version) - Alphaville15. It's Called A Heart (Extended) - Depeche ModeNotes and other random things: I hope this time around I will get to do some notes on some of the tracks in this episode. I'm guessing most would rather hear the music than read a bunch of ramblings from a guy stuck in the 80s, but I'll do my best to keep the total package intact. I do want to quickly point out to readers/listeners that this episode did manage to earn an "Explicit" tag due to some thematic issues in a couple of the songs. While the language is generally fine, there is one "slut" outburst in the Berlin tune and some sketchy noises in a couple of the songs typically associated with carnal activities. Just wanted any parents out there to be aware should you feel like playing this mix in the car or somewhere where inquisitve and/or impressionable kids might be within earshot. Berlin and Beloved are the problematic songs, so just fast-forward through those if you're concerned. On to the songs ...Leading off things is a Bomb The Bass remix of the DM classic, "Strangelove". It's an appropriate first track, I suppose, as the song was the first single off the Music for the Masses album, which was released in 1987. While eminently successful at that point in their career, it's probably the album that nudged DM toward super-stardom, an interesting turn of events considering the band chose the album name as a lark, a snide dismissal of the suggestion that they create more commercially successful music. While the compositions on the album were more sparsely arranged than previous albums and darker in tonality, the album was a critical and commercial success, effectively making DM a musical fixture among the masses, something they jokingly embraced in selecting the title. As for the song itself, it was originally a high-energy pop song, but Mute founder and producer Daniel Miller thought the overall feel of the track wasn't a good fit for the album. Miller's remixed version is the one that shows up on Music for the Masses. Bomb The Bass, by the way, is the one-man audio production team, Tim Simenon. Simenon found early success in the mid-80s as a musician creating drum tracks and basslines, then "bombing" them with a variety of samples and noises. His first single, "Beat Dis", which contained 72 samples including bits and pieces from Public Enemy to Ennio Morricone to anything in between, was one of the first tracks to introduce sampling into the musical vernacular."World in Motion" was a song written by New Order in support of England's 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign. Believe it or not, the tune still stands as New Order's only #1 hit on the UK singles charts, holding the top spot for 2 consecutive weeks. The song is credited to ENGLAND New Order, most likely because members of that era's football (soccer) team, including left-winger and future hall-of-famer, John Barnes, contributed vocals and rapping to the song. Last year, a blog entry in NME magazine celebrated the 25th anniversary of perhaps the greatest sports-themed anthem of all time with a look at ten "geeky" facts about the song. I've reposted them below.    1. New Order drummer Steve Morris claims the band's manager, Tony Wilson, tricked the FA and the band into working with each other. "Knowing Tony, he probably sold them the idea of us doing a song and then told us the FA had come up with the brilliant idea."2. In fact, he and instrumentalist Gillian Gilbert initially thought the offer of making the song was a joke. They had another offer of work on the table – with director Michael Powell – but eventually chose to delay that until the following year. Later, on the day they started recording 'World in Motion', they received a phone call saying Powell had died. "We made the right decision," they said. "We'd have looked like proper charlies working with a dead director." 3. Gilbert and Morris were actually pretty crucial to the song – the track was adapted from one of their compositions as The Other Two, which was originally written for BBC's 'Reportage'.4. At the time, when NME asked footballer John Barnes how excited he was to be collaborating on a football song, he responded: "If I thought it was going to be the same as the usual crap, why bother? But this is alright." Barnes' rap was written by the man himself and performed - legend has it - in one take.5. When the FA heard "love's got the world in motion", they asked the band to replace "love's" with "we've". The band refused. "It's an anti-hooligan song", they said. Too right.6. Morris, in a crisis of ambiguity, called coming up with the lyrics a "nightmare", because he wanted to avoid any association with football violence while being cheeky enough that "if it all went pear-shaped, at least we could say it was a joke." He later said, "I couldn't imagine it being anything other than 'World Cup Willy', but Keith Allen got involved and made it funny."7. Keith Allen, who co-wrote 'World In Motion', wanted it to be called 'E for England', with lyrics that ran: "E is for England, England starts with E / We'll all be smiling when we're in Italy." The FA vetoed the decision. Looking back at it in 1993, he was diplomatic: "I think at the time there were certain drug-related overtones that didn't appeal to either Top of the Pops or the record company." Allen was later involved in 1998 unofficial England song 'Vindaloo'.8. At the time the song was released, lead singer Bernard Sumner told NME, "This should be the last straw for Joy Division fans." Make of that what you will.9. Reflecting on the song years later, Morris said that it may have changed football. "It did come at a bit of a turning point for football. Until that point it was all very laddish. After 'World in Motion' everybody got a bit loved-up with it."10. Barnes recently revealed that he had to do a rap-off with Paul Gascoigne, Steve McMahon, Peter Beardsley and Des Walker before he was picked to perform the rap. The question is - did Gazza cry when he lost out that time too?By the way, the song that would knock "World in Motion" from it's lofty perch at #1? "Sacrifice" by Elton John. For shame!Produced by the great Trevor Horn and appearing on the album Introspective, as well as being one of the longest tracks in their musical repertoire, "Left to My Own Devices" by the Pet Shop Boys was intended to be an "experiment in seeing how mundane a pop song could be, before setting it against extravagant music," according to lead singer Neil Tennant. No doubt, the song adds touches of classical music, specifically orchestral phrases culled from Claude Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" ("Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"), to the proceedings. However, this mundane song is rife with supposedly biographical or semi-biographical information from Tennant's youth that he ambiguously puts on display topped off with an idiomatic title. Whether lyrics about "roundheads" (a reference to Pro-Parliamentary forces in the English civil war) the sun and brochures and Che Guevara are self-referential terms about the Boys' "alternative" lifestyles is a matter of conjecture and I'll leave it to smarter people than myself to pour over the details. Frankly, I don't care what the meaning. I prefer just to listen and enjoy.In a previous episode, I mentioned the numerous contributions of Nick Rhodes to the success of Duran Duran. Perhaps his biggest was that of a visionary as he quickly seized on the potential of the music video. He was the one who pushed the band toward more elaborate productions, a somewhat questionable decision at the dawn of the 80s as the phenomenon that would come to be known as MTV was still months away from its eventual August 1, 1981 launch date. Not to mention, at that time, nobody could have actually predicted the overwhelming success of the network and the lasting impact it would have on the music industry. Released in July of 1981, "Girls On Film" was the third single from Double D's self-titled album. Interestingly, it was the band that chose the song to be their third single after a dismal showing by the second single, "Careless Memories", a song that had been selected by their label, EMI. Though "Careless Memories" reached #37 in the UK, it was perceived as a failure because the first single, "Planet Earth", had been a Top 20 hit. "Careless Memories" was also the song chosen to herald the soon-to-be released full-length album. That the band chose "Girls On Film", a staple at live performances, as the group's third single was fortuitous. It helped album sales overseas, though it did not initially chart in the US. After the follow-up success of the Rio album in 1982, their first album was re-issued in the states in 1983 and became certified platinum in 1985. While the song is no doubt a great one, it was the video, which was originally filmed in 1981 a few weeks prior to the launch of MTV, that made serious waves and caused serious consternation among parents and network censors. The uncut version circulated regularly on the Playboy Channel as it was deemed too pornographic for MTV. It was also banned on the BBC. A heavily-edited "day" version was created for regular airplay and is the one with which most of us are familiar. And though the song had already achieved chart success, it was that video, directed by Godley &amp; Creme, that kept people talking and kept the band firmly in the public eye. Simon Le Bon would later lament that the scandalous nature of the video obscured the message of the song, which was about the exploitation of models in the fashion industry.                         To end this episode, I figured I'd include the most reviled song in the Depeche Mode catalog. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but both Martin Gore and Alan Wilder have, on numerous occasions, described "It's Called A Heart" as their least favorite single ever recorded by DM. Wilder admitted he was "anti even recording, let alone releasing it". So, why the high level of disdain for the song? Seems the band, especially Wilder, thought that the b-side, "Fly On The Windscreen" was a stronger song and should have been released as the band's next single at the time. Apparently, the record label didn't like the fact the first word of the song was "death". Yet Wilder argues: "I fought tooth-and-nail on behalf of the B-side Fly on the Windscreen which was far superior. To me, the whole thing was a serious backward step. I felt we'd worked diligently to build up recognition for a harder sound, with more depth and maturity, and here was this ultra poppy number that did nothing for our reputation." When asked in an interview if he could turn back time and do something over again, Wilder responded: "I don't think I'd change much, apart from some of the hair styles and those daft boots I wore in 101. Oh, and I'd also make sure that I missed my wake-up call on the day we made the video for It's Called a Heart." Wilder says of the video concept, "Quite how [Peter Care, the director] equated 'calling something a heart' with twirling cameras around on the end of a string in a field of corn in Reading dressed in a skirt, I'll never be able to tell you."Wilder hated the song so much that he answered the question "In your opinion, what makes up a true DM fan?" with "Anyone who still gives us the time of day after having heard It's Called a Heart".Remixes didn't fare much better in Wilder's eyes. He once commented on the "Slow Mix" version of the song, "...you do need to be particularly devout to endure it - slowing it down to half speed made it twice as long - probably not a very good idea - twice the agony." Okay, so Alan Wilder doesn't particularly care for the song, but I LOVE IT! And since I'm curating this podcast, I included all 7+ minutes of the Extended Mix for your listening enjoyment.That's it for this episode. I've got another podcast all figured out and I'll post it as soon I can find time to record it. Thanks for tuning in/listening/reading!

1. Strangelove (Bomb The Bass) - Depeche Mode 2. Keep On (Razormaid! Mix) - Cabaret Voltaire 3. World In Motion (The B-Side) - England New Order 4. Suicide Blonde (Milk Mix) - INXS 5. Don't Talk To Me About Love (12" Mix) - Altered Images 6. Quiet Life (12" Mix) - Japan 7. Memorabilia (12" Mix) - Soft Cell 8. Left To My Own Devices (New Toy Mix) - Pet Shop Boys 9. Your Love Takes Me Higher (The Pod Went Pop Mix) - Beloved 10. You Spin Me Round (Murder Mix) - Dead Or Alive 11. Take Me Now (Razormaid! Mix) - Vicious Pink 12. Sex (I'm A ... ) (Extended Version) - Berlin 13. Girls On Film (Night Version) - Duran Duran 14. Dance With Me (Long Version) - Alphaville 15. It's Called A Heart (Extended) - Depeche Mode Notes and other random things: I hope this time around I will get to do some notes on some of the tracks in this episode. I'm guessing most would rather hear the music than read a bunch of ramblings from a guy stuck in the 80s, but I'll do my best to keep the total package intact. I do want to quickly point out to readers/listeners that this episode did manage to earn an "Explicit" tag due to some thematic issues in a couple of the songs. While the language is generally fine, there is one "slut" outburst in the Berlin tune and some sketchy noises in a couple of the songs typically associated with carnal activities. Just wanted any parents out there to be aware should you feel like playing this mix in the car or somewhere where inquisitve and/or impressionable kids might be within earshot. Berlin and Beloved are the problematic songs, so just fast-forward through those if you're concerned. On to the songs ... Leading off things is a Bomb The Bass remix of the DM classic, "Strangelove". It's an appropriate first track, I suppose, as the song was the first single off the Music for the Masses album, which was released in 1987. While eminently successful at that point in their career, it's probably the album that nudged DM toward super-stardom, an interesting turn of events considering the band chose the album name as a lark, a snide dismissal of the suggestion that they create more commercially successful music. While the compositions on the album were more sparsely arranged than previous albums and darker in tonality, the album was a critical and commercial success, effectively making DM a musical fixture among the masses, something they jokingly embraced in selecting the title. As for the song itself, it was originally a high-energy pop song, but Mute founder and producer Daniel Miller thought the overall feel of the track wasn't a good fit for the album. Miller's remixed version is the one that shows up on Music for the Masses. Bomb The Bass, by the way, is the one-man audio production team, Tim Simenon. Simenon found early success in the mid-80s as a musician creating drum tracks and basslines, then "bombing" them with a variety of samples and noises. His first single, "Beat Dis", which contained 72 samples including bits and pieces from Public Enemy to Ennio Morricone to anything in between, was one of the first tracks to introduce sampling into the musical vernacular. "World in Motion" was a song written by New Order in support of England's 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign. Believe it or not, the tune still stands as New Order's only #1 hit on the UK singles charts, holding the top spot for 2 consecutive weeks. The song is credited to ENGLAND New Order, most likely because members of that era's football (soccer) team, including left-winger and future hall-of-famer, John Barnes, contributed vocals and rapping to the song. Last year, a blog entry in NME magazine celebrated the 25th anniversary of perhaps the greatest sports-themed anthem of all time with a look at ten "geeky" facts about the song. I've reposted them below. 1. New Order drummer Steve Morris claims the band's manager, Tony Wilson, tricked the FA and the band into working with each other. "Knowing Tony, he probably sold them the idea of us doing a song and then told us the FA had come up with the brilliant idea." 2. In fact, he and instrumentalist Gillian Gilbert initially thought the offer of making the song was a joke. They had another offer of work on the table – with director Michael Powell – but eventually chose to delay that until the following year. Later, on the day they started recording 'World in Motion', they received a phone call saying Powell had died. "We made the right decision," they said. "We'd have looked like proper charlies working with a dead director." 3. Gilbert and Morris were actually pretty crucial to the song – the track was adapted from one of their compositions as The Other Two, which was originally written for BBC's 'Reportage'. 4. At the time, when NME asked footballer John Barnes how excited he was to be collaborating on a football song, he responded: "If I thought it was going to be the same as the usual crap, why bother? But this is alright." Barnes' rap was written by the man himself and performed - legend has it - in one take. 5. When the FA heard "love's got the world in motion", they asked the band to replace "love's" with "we've". The band refused. "It's an anti-hooligan song", they said. Too right. 6. Morris, in a crisis of ambiguity, called coming up with the lyrics a "nightmare", because he wanted to avoid any association with football violence while being cheeky enough that "if it all went pear-shaped, at least we could say it was a joke." He later said, "I couldn't imagine it being anything other than 'World Cup Willy', but Keith Allen got involved and made it funny." 7. Keith Allen, who co-wrote 'World In Motion', wanted it to be called 'E for England', with lyrics that ran: "E is for England, England starts with E / We'll all be smiling when we're in Italy." The FA vetoed the decision. Looking back at it in 1993, he was diplomatic: "I think at the time there were certain drug-related overtones that didn't appeal to either Top of the Pops or the record company." Allen was later involved in 1998 unofficial England song 'Vindaloo'. 8. At the time the song was released, lead singer Bernard Sumner told NME, "This should be the last straw for Joy Division fans." Make of that what you will. 9. Reflecting on the song years later, Morris said that it may have changed football. "It did come at a bit of a turning point for football. Until that point it was all very laddish. After 'World in Motion' everybody got a bit loved-up with it." 10. Barnes recently revealed that he had to do a rap-off with Paul Gascoigne, Steve McMahon, Peter Beardsley and Des Walker before he was picked to perform the rap. The question is - did Gazza cry when he lost out that time too? By the way, the song that would knock "World in Motion" from it's lofty perch at #1? "Sacrifice" by Elton John. For shame! Produced by the great Trevor Horn and appearing on the album Introspective, as well as being one of the longest tracks in their musical repertoire, "Left to My Own Devices" by the Pet Shop Boys was intended to be an "experiment in seeing how mundane a pop song could be, before setting it against extravagant music," according to lead singer Neil Tennant. No doubt, the song adds touches of classical music, specifically orchestral phrases culled from Claude Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" ("Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun"), to the proceedings. However, this mundane song is rife with supposedly biographical or semi-biographical information from Tennant's youth that he ambiguously puts on display topped off with an idiomatic title. Whether lyrics about "roundheads" (a reference to Pro-Parliamentary forces in the English civil war) the sun and brochures and Che Guevara are self-referential terms about the Boys' "alternative" lifestyles is a matter of conjecture and I'll leave it to smarter people than myself to pour over the details. Frankly, I don't care what the meaning. I prefer just to listen and enjoy. In a previous episode, I mentioned the numerous contributions of Nick Rhodes to the success of Duran Duran. Perhaps his biggest was that of a visionary as he quickly seized on the potential of the music video. He was the one who pushed the band toward more elaborate productions, a somewhat questionable decision at the dawn of the 80s as the phenomenon that would come to be known as MTV was still months away from its eventual August 1, 1981 launch date. Not to mention, at that time, nobody could have actually predicted the overwhelming success of the network and the lasting impact it would have on the music industry. Released in July of 1981, "Girls On Film" was the third single from Double D's self-titled album. Interestingly, it was the band that chose the song to be their third single after a dismal showing by the second single, "Careless Memories", a song that had been selected by their label, EMI. Though "Careless Memories" reached #37 in the UK, it was perceived as a failure because the first single, "Planet Earth", had been a Top 20 hit. "Careless Memories" was also the song chosen to herald the soon-to-be released full-length album. That the band chose "Girls On Film", a staple at live performances, as the group's third single was fortuitous. It helped album sales overseas, though it did not initially chart in the US. After the follow-up success of the Rio album in 1982, their first album was re-issued in the states in 1983 and became certified platinum in 1985. While the song is no doubt a great one, it was the video, which was originally filmed in 1981 a few weeks prior to the launch of MTV, that made serious waves and caused serious consternation among parents and network censors. The uncut version circulated regularly on the Playboy Channel as it was deemed too pornographic for MTV. It was also banned on the BBC. A heavily-edited "day" version was created for regular airplay and is the one with which most of us are familiar. And though the song had already achieved chart success, it was that video, directed by Godley &amp; Creme, that kept people talking and kept the band firmly in the public eye. Simon Le Bon would later lament that the scandalous nature of the video obscured the message of the song, which was about the exploitation of models in the fashion industry. To end this episode, I figured I'd include the most reviled song in the Depeche Mode catalog. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but both Martin Gore and Alan Wilder have, on numerous occasions, described "It's Called A Heart" as their least favorite single ever recorded by DM. Wilder admitted he was "anti even recording, let alone releasing it". So, why the high level of disdain for the song? Seems the band, especially Wilder, thought that the b-side, "Fly On The Windscreen" was a stronger song and should have been released as the band's next single at the time. Apparently, the record label didn't like the fact the first word of the song was "death". Yet Wilder argues: "I fought tooth-and-nail on behalf of the B-side Fly on the Windscreen which was far superior. To me, the whole thing was a serious backward step. I felt we'd worked diligently to build up recognition for a harder sound, with more depth and maturity, and here was this ultra poppy number that did nothing for our reputation." When asked in an interview if he could turn back time and do something over again, Wilder responded: "I don't think I'd change much, apart from some of the hair styles and those daft boots I wore in 101. Oh, and I'd also make sure that I missed my wake-up call on the day we made the video for It's Called a Heart." Wilder says of the video concept, "Quite how [Peter Care, the director] equated 'calling something a heart' with twirling cameras around on the end of a string in a field of corn in Reading dressed in a skirt, I'll never be able to tell you." Wilder hated the song so much that he answered the question "In your opinion, what makes up a true DM fan?" with "Anyone who still gives us the time of day after having heard It's Called a Heart". Remixes didn't fare much better in Wilder's eyes. He once commented on the "Slow Mix" version of the song, "...you do need to be particularly devout to endure it - slowing it down to half speed made it twice as long - probably not a very good idea - twice the agony." Okay, so Alan Wilder doesn't particularly care for the song, but I LOVE IT! And since I'm curating this podcast, I included all 7+ minutes of the Extended Mix for your listening enjoyment. That's it for this episode. I've got another podcast all figured out and I'll post it as soon I can find time to record it. Thanks for tuning in/listening/reading!

CRC Retro Mix #41

1. Secrets - Fiat Lux2. Puppets - Depeche Mode3. Collapsing New People (Berlin Mix) - Fad Gadget4. Shame (Mix Two) - Nitzer Ebb5. Fine Time (Steve 'Silk' Hurley Mix) - New Order6. Obsession (Club Mix) - Xymox7. New York, New York (Dancefloor Cut Mix) - Microchip League8. Evolution (Original Mix) - Nostromo Dept.9. The Race (12" Mix) - Yello10. Passion (Extended Mix) - The Flirts11. Lose Him (Original 12" Version) - I Start Counting12. Love Action (12" Mix) - Human League13. Don't Go (Razormaid! Mix) - Yaz14. Computerlove (Remix) - Kraftwerk15. Play To Win (12" Extended Version) - Heaven 17Notes and other random things:Sorry to everyone for the three-month vanishing act. Without boring you all to tears or making excuses, lets just say that raising a family doesn't leave one with much spare time to devote to things like podcasting. Nonetheless, I got another one done. Lots to like in this one, including some stuff I'm hoping even die-hard retro junkies may not be all that familiar with. Some notes will be forthcoming as I find time to clack out deets. In the meantime, enjoy the new tunes! Update 3-6-16: I didn't find time to write up anything on this episode, though I will say that I included Kraftwerk to coincide with my getting to cross off a bucket list item. On October 9 of last year, I saw Kraftwerk live for the first time ever. Simply put, the show was amazing. Sure, only Ralf Hutter remains as one of the original members, but the visuals, the sound and the experience were as immersive as one could hope for. The videos were all 3-D as well adding to the sensory overload. The 2 1/2-hour extravaganza bridged the early classics with newer material and it was quite extraordinary sitting down the entire time with generally polite applause in between songs, at least until the clamor began, culminating in a triple encore. It was a show I won't soon forget. If the band should make it to your area, it is well worth the price of admission.

1. Secrets - Fiat Lux 2. Puppets - Depeche Mode 3. Collapsing New People (Berlin Mix) - Fad Gadget 4. Shame (Mix Two) - Nitzer Ebb 5. Fine Time (Steve 'Silk' Hurley Mix) - New Order 6. Obsession (Club Mix) - Xymox 7. New York, New York (Dancefloor Cut Mix) - Microchip League 8. Evolution (Original Mix) - Nostromo Dept. 9. The Race (12" Mix) - Yello 10. Passion (Extended Mix) - The Flirts 11. Lose Him (Original 12" Version) - I Start Counting 12. Love Action (12" Mix) - Human League 13. Don't Go (Razormaid! Mix) - Yaz 14. Computerlove (Remix) - Kraftwerk 15. Play To Win (12" Extended Version) - Heaven 17 Notes and other random things: Sorry to everyone for the three-month vanishing act. Without boring you all to tears or making excuses, lets just say that raising a family doesn't leave one with much spare time to devote to things like podcasting. Nonetheless, I got another one done. Lots to like in this one, including some stuff I'm hoping even die-hard retro junkies may not be all that familiar with. Some notes will be forthcoming as I find time to clack out deets. In the meantime, enjoy the new tunes! Update 3-6-16: I didn't find time to write up anything on this episode, though I will say that I included Kraftwerk to coincide with my getting to cross off a bucket list item. On October 9 of last year, I saw Kraftwerk live for the first time ever. Simply put, the show was amazing. Sure, only Ralf Hutter remains as one of the original members, but the visuals, the sound and the experience were as immersive as one could hope for. The videos were all 3-D as well adding to the sensory overload. The 2 1/2-hour extravaganza bridged the early classics with newer material and it was quite extraordinary sitting down the entire time with generally polite applause in between songs, at least until the clamor began, culminating in a triple encore. It was a show I won't soon forget. If the band should make it to your area, it is well worth the price of admission.

CRC Retro Mix #40

 Souvenir (DMC Postcards From The Edge) - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark2. I Touch Roses (Full Bloom Version) - Book Of Love3. The Good Samaritan - Counterfeit4. New Dress (Razormaid! Mix) - Depeche Mode5. Animal Magic (Dance Vocal) - Belouis Some6. Bizarre Love Triangle (Shep Pettibone Remix) - New Order7. It's Alright - Pet Shop Boys8. The Great Commandment (Acid Commandment) - Camouflage9. Last Train To Trancentral (Razormaid! Mix) - The KLF10. The Sun Rising (Norty's Spago Mix) - The Beloved11. 900 Hours (Mr. E Mix) - Boxcar12. How To Be A Zillionaire (Bond Street Mix) - ABC13. Cccan't You See (Razormaid! Mix) - Vicious Pink14. Get The Balance Right! (Combination Mix) - Depeche Mode15. Goodbye Horses (Extended Version) - Q LazzarusSPECIAL NOTE FROM CRC AND DJ TINTIN: Apologies to everyone who has attempted to download and/or listen recently, but gets a pre-recorded bandwidth notification. For awhile I had a pro account with much more bandwidth, but I couldn't justify the cost with my time limitations over the past three years. That said, I also don't like fans and followers to be cock-blocked for weeks on end by bandwidth overages. Right now, I have to be satisfied with a free account, but I didn't anticipate using up my bandwidth three days after the reset date each month. It's a good problem to have, but still a problem. Anyway, I'll keep you all in the loop should things change. For now, I guess, circle the 24th of each month on your calendar to remind yourself to grab these episodes when you can before my 15 gigs of bandwidth per month evaporates! Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in. It really makes a guy feel good.Notes and other random things: Alright! It's 3 hours to dawn, I've got a full bowl of cereal, half a glass of water, it's dark and I'm making a podcast. Hit it!This sassy little number contains ABCs and OMDs, Counterfeits and Camouflages, Boxcars and Beloveds, something "vicious", something "new" and even a double DM! Happy Listening!Okay, so like any normal testosterone-fueled male member of the species I'm a competitive guy, my own worst critic and I can't stand giving a less-than-competent effort in whatever it is I choose to undertake. That said, I do read comments and check reviews with regard to my 'casts to make sure I'm living up to some realistic level of excellence. For the most part, I've been thrilled that this insignificant little program I assemble in my basement has brought so much joy to so many of you. I try to be honest and forthright in my write-ups for my sake, for your sake, for band's sake, for God's sake. Most of what I write is knowledge I've gleaned over the years from being a fan, from reading music mags, from collecting umpteen thousands of records and reading umpteen thousands of liner notes on the bands I feature here. Often, however, I look up artists to confirm or deny stuff I thought I'd read, thought I'd heard, figured I'd seen or otherwise dreamed. Most importantly, I try to get it right. But I don't always....Which brings me to the first band I'd like to mention here: Counterfeit. In episode #23, I included Lee McFadden and Co.'s song "The Good Samaritan" At the time, it was a new find for me, one I discovered on a compilation I had just purchased. Until that point I knew nothing of the band and had a difficult time finding much information on them. I jumped to the conclusion that the song I possessed was probably their only release. Thankfully, a kind listener made a comment to the contrary. He wrote:"In fact there is a three-track EP of "The Good Samaritan" that was released a couple of years ago. Myself and the other two members are still in contact and work together occasionally on music." - Lee McFadden.Holy S#!+, Lee McFadden just wrote to tell me I'm full of crap. That's so COOL! Anyway, thanks to Mr. McFadden for correcting my error. I thought it appropriate to let you all know there is more to the band than just one song. I also figured that by using Lee's comment as part of my write-up it would give me another chance to feature the excellent track here.So, back to the "my own worst critic" comment a moment ago. One of the things about this podcast that is endearing/aggravating is that it's a live mix. That is, I hit record and go for an hour or more - typically 15 songs. As you can imagine, things can sometimes go wrong when performing live, especially at 3 in the morning when I recorded this one. Some errors are bad enough I scrap the whole thing and start over. Sometimes, I just accept things like variances in recording levels or slightly mismatched beats because it's too time-consuming to spend an hour or more redoing an entire 'cast for small inconsistencies, especially when you're using cheap, finicky mixing equipment as I do. In the case of this podcast it turns out two of the tracks here had questionable endings. The first, Book Of Love's "I Touch Roses" mix had a repeated phrase for the last 30 seconds that sounded as if the track were skipping. Of course, I remembered that at the last possible moment and quickly began mixing it out. So, if it sounds like an unnatural point at which to fade in/fade out, it is. And now you know why. I'd say Daniel Miller should be flogged for ending the track in that way, but how can I possibly stay angry at the fellow who founded Mute Records? I forgive you Daniel. Just don't do it again! In case you were wondering about the other track with the weird ending it was 900 Hours by Boxcar. Thankfully, the first gaffe reminded me to avoid a second. I'd like to spend a moment to write about Belouis Some. Frankly, I could spend a day debating the correct pronunciation of Neville Keighley's alter-ego ... but I won't. Just know that all the variants I've encountered rank right up there with bands like INXS, Cetu Javu, EBN-OZN and others whose names were all butchered during their infancy. (C'mon ... admit it. You called them "Inks" the first time you saw their record in the storefront window. You know you did!) Anyway, the track "Animal Magic" was released in 1987 on Belouis Some's self-titled album, two years after the band found chart success UK and stateside with the songs "Imagination" and "Some People". Those songs led to opening gigs for Nik Kershaw and Frankie Goes To Hollywood during their heyday in 1985 and a track called "Round Round" which appeared on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack. The soundtrack is notable for two things: it's association with a John Hughes film and for being killer back when soundtracks were mostly filler. (That rhymes!) As an interesting side note: Nik Kershaw's song "Wouldn't It Be Good" also appeared on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack as a cover version by Danny Hutton Hitters. Belouis Some's "Some People" would also surface on a Swatch commercial circa 1986.Australia had its share of good rock music in the 80s. Men At Work, INXS (however you pronounce them) and Midnight Oil represent just a few of the names. But as club culture began to consume record racks in the mid-80s, fledgling bands began to dabble in electronics, shifting their focus from guitar-infused pub rock to synth-based dance music. Brisbane's Boxcar were one of those bands that gained prominence world-wide. But old pub-rock habits die-hard and the band had a difficult time of things even in their home country where they were often met by a chorus of boo-birds during live performances. The group was also ridiculed for being too derivative of established artists like New Order (whom they toured with at the turn of the 90s.) Thanks in part to producer Robert Racic, who had worked with Severed Heads (also an Aussie electronic band) and Single Gun Theory among others, Boxcar's first full-length release "Vertigo", issued in 1990, was praised by critics for it's sophisticated electronic sound. Tracks like "Freemason", which charted at #8 on the Billboard Dance Chart and "Gas Stop" brought the group some recognition outside Australia. But despite support gigs for Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Pet Shop Boys and the aforementioned New Order, the band was never really able to gain much traction and after two more albums, "Revision" in 1992 and "Algorhythm" in 1994, the band's output and live dates began to ebb even though they never officially called it quits. ABC were like the cool kids in high school that everyone wanted to be like. They had the swankiest clothes, the hippest hair cuts, listened to the coolest music and seemed to always have their finger on the pulse of whatever the "it" thing was to do at the time ... at least until the 20-year reunion rolled around and you saw them wearing the same clothes and sporting the same haircuts, albeit with much less hair and carrying around 50 extra pounds and you realized there had been little personal growth there. The band's roots grew from a band called Vice Versa. Both guitarist and synthesizer player, Mark White, and saxophonist, Stephen Singleton, were members of that group and are notable for their first ever gig being the opening act for Wire. (Not a bad way to kick off a career). After the release of an EP called "Music 4", future ABC singer Martin Fry, at the time editor of his own fanzine called Modern Drugs, interviewed the band. Shortly thereafter, they asked him to join. From the start, the band were pretty set on making 100% machine-made music. Having mega-producer Trevor Horn of The Buggles Fame, a guy affectionately nicknamed, "The Man Who Invented The Eighties" in your corner can certainly help chart a solid course for success. And did it ever. The first album, "Lexicon Of Love", went #1 in the UK, spawned innumerable imitators, featured great songs like "Look Of Love", "Poison Arrow", "Tears Are Not Enough", "Date Stamp" and others, and should be on a short list of the best albums from start to finish to come out of the 80s. From there, however, the band never ventured far from their original song-writing formula and were unable, despite some hits here and there, to duplicate the immense success of "Lexicon". In ABCs defense, not many bands could. Further, the group continued to splinter, losing members as the years went on. Drummer David Palmer left to join Yellow Magic Orchestra shortly after "Lexicon" was released. Stephen Singleton left in 1984. Remaining members Fry and White then recruited Fiona Russell-Powell (known as Eden) and David Yarritu to mitigate the departures of Palmer and Singleton. That line-up produced their biggest hit stateside with "Be Near Me".  Mid-1987, ABC's album Alphabet City spawned the Top 10 hit "When Smokey Sings", a tribute to the great Motown singer, Smokey Robinson. Interestingly, Smokey was in the midst of a career resurgence for a new generation of fans and was himself firmly ensconced on the pop charts with his single "One Heartbeat" at the same time as ABC's tribute. It marked one of the only times in chart history a singer had a Top 40 hit while simultaneously being the focus of another.Not many bands can say they were responsible for coining a term that would become part of the vernacular. In an earlier CRC, I mentioned that Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P. Orridge is widely recognized to have created the "industrial" tag with the advent of his label, Industrial Music, in the mid-70s. March 27, 1982 - that's the date Vicious Pink described their music as "techno" in a feature published in Sounds magazine - almost 4 years before the term gained wider acceptance in the Detroit DJ subculture. Band members Josephine Warden and Brian Moss formed the group in 1981 in Leeds, England, getting their start as backup singers for Marc Almond and Soft Cell. Originally called Vicious Pink Phenomena, Brian describes how the name came to be: "I met [Josephine] when I was DJ at an alternative night, I put on with friends, at a pub called “The Adephi” in Leeds. I also met Dave Ball and Mark Almond there through Jose, as she went to the same College as them, Leeds Polytechnic. We decided to start a band together for a bit of fun. Jose, Dave Ball and I wrote our favourite words down on pieces of paper, turned them upside down and shuffled them about. Then we each chose one of the pieces of paper, after that we rearranged them into the name Vicious Pink Phenomena, Jose’s word was Vicious, Dave’s was Pink and mine was, well, Phenomena. It was a kind of lottery I guess, but it worked. We thought it  also sounded like it could be the title for a 50’s / 60’s Science Fiction B Movie." In all, the duo would release 5 dance singles, many produced by Dave Ball of Soft Cell. Despite zero promotion and garnering next-to-no mainstream support Vicious Pink managed to chart all five of those singles in the UK. The particular track here, "Cccan't You See" was their third single and was produced by the great Tony Mansfield of New Musik fame. It was the highest charting single of the bunch, reaching #67. That's it for this episode. I'll be back soon with another. Thanks everyone and Happy Listening!  

<ol> <li>Souvenir (DMC Postcards From The Edge) - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark 2. I Touch Roses (Full Bloom Version) - Book Of Love 3. The Good Samaritan - Counterfeit 4. New Dress (Razormaid! Mix) - Depeche Mode 5. Animal Magic (Dance Vocal) - Belouis Some 6. Bizarre Love Triangle (Shep Pettibone Remix) - New Order 7. It's Alright - Pet Shop Boys 8. The Great Commandment (Acid Commandment) - Camouflage 9. Last Train To Trancentral (Razormaid! Mix) - The KLF 10. The Sun Rising (Norty's Spago Mix) - The Beloved 11. 900 Hours (Mr. E Mix) - Boxcar 12. How To Be A Zillionaire (Bond Street Mix) - ABC 13. Cccan't You See (Razormaid! Mix) - Vicious Pink 14. Get The Balance Right! (Combination Mix) - Depeche Mode 15. Goodbye Horses (Extended Version) - Q Lazzarus SPECIAL NOTE FROM CRC AND DJ TINTIN: Apologies to everyone who has attempted to download and/or listen recently, but gets a pre-recorded bandwidth notification. For awhile I had a pro account with much more bandwidth, but I couldn't justify the cost with my time limitations over the past three years. That said, I also don't like fans and followers to be cock-blocked for weeks on end by bandwidth overages. Right now, I have to be satisfied with a free account, but I didn't anticipate using up my bandwidth three days after the reset date each month. It's a good problem to have, but still a problem. Anyway, I'll keep you all in the loop should things change. For now, I guess, circle the 24th of each month on your calendar to remind yourself to grab these episodes when you can before my 15 gigs of bandwidth per month evaporates! Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in. It really makes a guy feel good. Notes and other random things: Alright! It's 3 hours to dawn, I've got a full bowl of cereal, half a glass of water, it's dark and I'm making a podcast. Hit it! This sassy little number contains ABCs and OMDs, Counterfeits and Camouflages, Boxcars and Beloveds, something "vicious", something "new" and even a double DM! Happy Listening! Okay, so like any normal testosterone-fueled male member of the species I'm a competitive guy, my own worst critic and I can't stand giving a less-than-competent effort in whatever it is I choose to undertake. That said, I do read comments and check reviews with regard to my 'casts to make sure I'm living up to some realistic level of excellence. For the most part, I've been thrilled that this insignificant little program I assemble in my basement has brought so much joy to so many of you. I try to be honest and forthright in my write-ups for my sake, for your sake, for band's sake, for God's sake. Most of what I write is knowledge I've gleaned over the years from being a fan, from reading music mags, from collecting umpteen thousands of records and reading umpteen thousands of liner notes on the bands I feature here. Often, however, I look up artists to confirm or deny stuff I thought I'd read, thought I'd heard, figured I'd seen or otherwise dreamed. Most importantly, I try to get it right. But I don't always. ...Which brings me to the first band I'd like to mention here: Counterfeit. In episode #23, I included Lee McFadden and Co.'s song "The Good Samaritan" At the time, it was a new find for me, one I discovered on a compilation I had just purchased. Until that point I knew nothing of the band and had a difficult time finding much information on them. I jumped to the conclusion that the song I possessed was probably their only release. Thankfully, a kind listener made a comment to the contrary. He wrote: "In fact there is a three-track EP of "The Good Samaritan" that was released a couple of years ago. Myself and the other two members are still in contact and work together occasionally on music." - Lee McFadden. Holy S#!+, Lee McFadden just wrote to tell me I'm full of crap. That's so COOL! Anyway, thanks to Mr. McFadden for correcting my error. I thought it appropriate to let you all know there is more to the band than just one song. I also figured that by using Lee's comment as part of my write-up it would give me another chance to feature the excellent track here. So, back to the "my own worst critic" comment a moment ago. One of the things about this podcast that is endearing/aggravating is that it's a live mix. That is, I hit record and go for an hour or more - typically 15 songs. As you can imagine, things can sometimes go wrong when performing live, especially at 3 in the morning when I recorded this one. Some errors are bad enough I scrap the whole thing and start over. Sometimes, I just accept things like variances in recording levels or slightly mismatched beats because it's too time-consuming to spend an hour or more redoing an entire 'cast for small inconsistencies, especially when you're using cheap, finicky mixing equipment as I do. In the case of this podcast it turns out two of the tracks here had questionable endings. The first, Book Of Love's "I Touch Roses" mix had a repeated phrase for the last 30 seconds that sounded as if the track were skipping. Of course, I remembered that at the last possible moment and quickly began mixing it out. So, if it sounds like an unnatural point at which to fade in/fade out, it is. And now you know why. I'd say Daniel Miller should be flogged for ending the track in that way, but how can I possibly stay angry at the fellow who founded Mute Records? I forgive you Daniel. Just don't do it again! In case you were wondering about the other track with the weird ending it was 900 Hours by Boxcar. Thankfully, the first gaffe reminded me to avoid a second. I'd like to spend a moment to write about Belouis Some. Frankly, I could spend a day debating the correct pronunciation of Neville Keighley's alter-ego ... but I won't. Just know that all the variants I've encountered rank right up there with bands like INXS, Cetu Javu, EBN-OZN and others whose names were all butchered during their infancy. (C'mon ... admit it. You called them "Inks" the first time you saw their record in the storefront window. You know you did!) Anyway, the track "Animal Magic" was released in 1987 on Belouis Some's self-titled album, two years after the band found chart success UK and stateside with the songs "Imagination" and "Some People". Those songs led to opening gigs for Nik Kershaw and Frankie Goes To Hollywood during their heyday in 1985 and a track called "Round Round" which appeared on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack. The soundtrack is notable for two things: it's association with a John Hughes film and for being killer back when soundtracks were mostly filler. (That rhymes!) As an interesting side note: Nik Kershaw's song "Wouldn't It Be Good" also appeared on the Pretty In Pink soundtrack as a cover version by Danny Hutton Hitters. Belouis Some's "Some People" would also surface on a Swatch commercial circa 1986. Australia had its share of good rock music in the 80s. Men At Work, INXS (however you pronounce them) and Midnight Oil represent just a few of the names. But as club culture began to consume record racks in the mid-80s, fledgling bands began to dabble in electronics, shifting their focus from guitar-infused pub rock to synth-based dance music. Brisbane's Boxcar were one of those bands that gained prominence world-wide. But old pub-rock habits die-hard and the band had a difficult time of things even in their home country where they were often met by a chorus of boo-birds during live performances. The group was also ridiculed for being too derivative of established artists like New Order (whom they toured with at the turn of the 90s.) Thanks in part to producer Robert Racic, who had worked with Severed Heads (also an Aussie electronic band) and Single Gun Theory among others, Boxcar's first full-length release "Vertigo", issued in 1990, was praised by critics for it's sophisticated electronic sound. Tracks like "Freemason", which charted at #8 on the Billboard Dance Chart and "Gas Stop" brought the group some recognition outside Australia. But despite support gigs for Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Pet Shop Boys and the aforementioned New Order, the band was never really able to gain much traction and after two more albums, "Revision" in 1992 and "Algorhythm" in 1994, the band's output and live dates began to ebb even though they never officially called it quits. ABC were like the cool kids in high school that everyone wanted to be like. They had the swankiest clothes, the hippest hair cuts, listened to the coolest music and seemed to always have their finger on the pulse of whatever the "it" thing was to do at the time ... at least until the 20-year reunion rolled around and you saw them wearing the same clothes and sporting the same haircuts, albeit with much less hair and carrying around 50 extra pounds and you realized there had been little personal growth there. The band's roots grew from a band called Vice Versa. Both guitarist and synthesizer player, Mark White, and saxophonist, Stephen Singleton, were members of that group and are notable for their first ever gig being the opening act for Wire. (Not a bad way to kick off a career). After the release of an EP called "Music 4", future ABC singer Martin Fry, at the time editor of his own fanzine called Modern Drugs, interviewed the band. Shortly thereafter, they asked him to join. From the start, the band were pretty set on making 100% machine-made music. Having mega-producer Trevor Horn of The Buggles Fame, a guy affectionately nicknamed, "The Man Who Invented The Eighties" in your corner can certainly help chart a solid course for success. And did it ever. The first album, "Lexicon Of Love", went #1 in the UK, spawned innumerable imitators, featured great songs like "Look Of Love", "Poison Arrow", "Tears Are Not Enough", "Date Stamp" and others, and should be on a short list of the best albums from start to finish to come out of the 80s. From there, however, the band never ventured far from their original song-writing formula and were unable, despite some hits here and there, to duplicate the immense success of "Lexicon". In ABCs defense, not many bands could. Further, the group continued to splinter, losing members as the years went on. Drummer David Palmer left to join Yellow Magic Orchestra shortly after "Lexicon" was released. Stephen Singleton left in 1984. Remaining members Fry and White then recruited Fiona Russell-Powell (known as Eden) and David Yarritu to mitigate the departures of Palmer and Singleton. That line-up produced their biggest hit stateside with "Be Near Me". Mid-1987, ABC's album Alphabet City spawned the Top 10 hit "When Smokey Sings", a tribute to the great Motown singer, Smokey Robinson. Interestingly, Smokey was in the midst of a career resurgence for a new generation of fans and was himself firmly ensconced on the pop charts with his single "One Heartbeat" at the same time as ABC's tribute. It marked one of the only times in chart history a singer had a Top 40 hit while simultaneously being the focus of another. Not many bands can say they were responsible for coining a term that would become part of the vernacular. In an earlier CRC, I mentioned that Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P. Orridge is widely recognized to have created the "industrial" tag with the advent of his label, Industrial Music, in the mid-70s. March 27, 1982 - that's the date Vicious Pink described their music as "techno" in a feature published in Sounds magazine - almost 4 years before the term gained wider acceptance in the Detroit DJ subculture. Band members Josephine Warden and Brian Moss formed the group in 1981 in Leeds, England, getting their start as backup singers for Marc Almond and Soft Cell. Originally called Vicious Pink Phenomena, Brian describes how the name came to be: "I met [Josephine] when I was DJ at an alternative night, I put on with friends, at a pub called “The Adephi” in Leeds. I also met Dave Ball and Mark Almond there through Jose, as she went to the same College as them, Leeds Polytechnic. We decided to start a band together for a bit of fun. Jose, Dave Ball and I wrote our favourite words down on pieces of paper, turned them upside down and shuffled them about. Then we each chose one of the pieces of paper, after that we rearranged them into the name Vicious Pink Phenomena, Jose’s word was Vicious, Dave’s was Pink and mine was, well, Phenomena. It was a kind of lottery I guess, but it worked. We thought it also sounded like it could be the title for a 50’s / 60’s Science Fiction B Movie." In all, the duo would release 5 dance singles, many produced by Dave Ball of Soft Cell. Despite zero promotion and garnering next-to-no mainstream support Vicious Pink managed to chart all five of those singles in the UK. The particular track here, "Cccan't You See" was their third single and was produced by the great Tony Mansfield of New Musik fame. It was the highest charting single of the bunch, reaching #67. That's it for this episode. I'll be back soon with another. Thanks everyone and Happy Listening! </li> </ol>

CRC Retro Mix #39

1. Visions Of You - Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart2. Life's What You Make It (Extended Mix) - Talk Talk3. Birthday (Justin Robertson 12" Mix) - The Sugarcubes4. Feel Every Beat (DNA Remix) - Electronic5. Hallelujah (Club Mix) - Happy Mondays6. Big In Japan (Remix '88) - Alphaville7. Transition - Renegade Soundwave8. Notorious (Extended Mix) - Duran Duran9. Prisoner To Desire (Razormaid! Mix) - Psyche10. Love Comes Quickly (Dance Mix) - Pet Shop Boys11. Policy Of Truth (Beat Box Mix) - Depeche Mode12. Walking Away (Space Age Mix) - Information Society13. True Faith (Shep Pettibone Remix) - New Order14. Subversion (Razormaid! Mix) - Tanz Waffen15. Machines (LP Edit) - Red FlagNotes and other random things: Somebody slap me if I try to take several years off from podcasting ever again. I had to pretty much relearn everything I had known about my cheap mixer and recording software from scratch. Not only that, new updates to software means new interfaces and having to learn where all the navigation features are all over again. You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but at least he can relearn old tricks since forgotten. Anyway, on to the music.Starting everything off is sort of a forgotten gem by John Joseph Wardle, also known as the inimitable Jah Wobble. The track peaked at #10 on the US Modern Rock charts back in 1992. Featuring the unmistakable backing vocals of a young Sinead O' Connor, the song was a staple on college radio back in the day. But it almost never happened. Following his stint as the original bassist for Public Image Ltd., Wobble formed Invaders of the Heart in 1983, but sometime in the mid-80s became disillusioned with the commercialism prevalent in the music industry. That and his penchant for drunken brawls let to a hiatus from music. Thankfully, a friend and former bandmate convinced him to return. A live recording he made led to a new contract with a small European label, which propelled him to further success with subsequent Invaders albums. Since the early 90s, Wobble's world music leanings and unique dub-style bass playing has shown up in numerous collaborations with a wide range of musicians of all musical backgrounds. Talk Talk hasn't appeared a lot in CRC, but that's mainly due to the freeform nature of their later music and their lack of "hits" if you will. That's not at all a slam on the group or their style. In my honest opinion they were one of the more original groups coming out of the 80s. And that's not to say they didn't have their share of chart success, but like some other well-respected bands, as their popularity ebbs, their critical acclaim skyrockets. Mixed by producer extraordinaire Tim Friese-Greene, who co-produced Thomas Dolby's "Golden Age Of Wireless" album and has done work with another of my favorite bands, Catherine Wheel, this Extended Mix appeared in February of 1986. According to the band, there was also another 12" mix of this track, by Dennis Weinrich, that was omitted from the "Asides Besides" compilation where this track was taken to "stop the listener from being driven crazy". Seems like I'm going to have to find that one now ...Although the original version of "Birthday" by The Sugarcubes is one of my favorite Sugarcubes tunes, and although I got to see them live back in 1989 opening for Public Image Ltd. and New Order, and although Bjork has attained a level of success whereby she needs only one name, I think the more interesting persona involved with the remix is Justin Robertson. It's unprecedented for me to write about remixers in CRC, but to any music lover at the turn of the 90s Justin's name has probably surfaced many, many times in record collections everywhere. Turned on to music by the burgeoning acid house scene while a student in Manchester, Robertson quickly jumped headlong into the club scene, taking the record store to DJ to club owner route. Erasure, Bjork, Happy Mondays, New Order, Talk Talk, Stereo MCs and Gary Clail are just a few of the more recognizable names Justin has worked with. You may have noticed that four of those artists/bands are featured in this podcast. Coincidence? Well, yes, it was just coincidence. To read more about Justin Robertson's odyssey, you can check him out at http://thedeadstock33s-justinrobertson.com/Four albums and twelve singles. That's the total output of Renegade Soundwave's eight-year run as dance/east-end hip-hop/dub/sampling/electro-industrialist noise-makers. The song here, Transition, is from their "In Dub" album, which was a quick follow-up to the success of their first long-play album, "Soundclash". Released in 1989, "Soundclash" followed up several popular singles: "The Kray Twins", "Biting My Nails", and "Probably A Robbery", which charted at #38 in the UK during the year 1990. "Probably A Robbery", though gained chart legs mostly due to the b-side, "Ozone Breakdown", a favorite in dance clubs somewhat due to the prominent sample from the cult film, "The Warriors". RSW have been cited by The Chemical Brothers as a major influence. Red Flag, in my opinion as far as electronic dance music goes, was very under-appreciated. Buried beneath their hearty dance beats are beautiful pop songs with lush melodies and harmonies and catchy hooks, at least that was the case with their earlier material, including the track here, "Machines". Originally called Shades Of May, the band was conceived in 1982 and consisted of brothers Mark and Chris Reynolds. Both classically trained musicians, by 1984 the two took seriously to studying music and computer technology. A 1988 gig for a Southern California record pool got them noticed by producer Jon St. James. Shortly thereafter, their first single "Broken Heart" (an amazing song, no less) made its debut. Stacey Q, of "Two Of Hearts" fame, co-produced the single with St. James. Their album "Naive Art", a fantastic album from start to finish that included dance hits such as "Russian Radio" and "If I Ever", appeared in 1989. If timing is everything, the brothers' was impeccable as "Naive Art" hit the streets just as Depeche Mode were riding high at what was perhaps the peak of their songwriting prowess. As such, Red Flag's sound struck a chord, literally and figuratively with the synthpop crowds who, ahem, just couldn't get enough of DM at the time. Regulars to CRC will notice a rather robust selection of Razormaid! remixes throughout these podcasts and "Naive Art" remains the only album Joseph Watt and Co. from Razormaid! ever produced in its entirety. Paul Robb of Information Society also helped with the production. Red Flag were victims of label doldrums twice: the first was the dissolution of Enigma Records in 1991, which led to their signing to IRS, the label on which "Machines" appeared. The second was the following year when they were dropped from IRS, an event which, considering the label's impending financial troubles, may have been rather fortuitous. The brothers also had the foresight to use their  advance to build their own studio, which would be home of their own label, Plan B Records. It would be the imprint of all future releases. While the band is still actively recording, Mark Reynolds sadly committed suicide in 2003. May he rest in peace and may his music live on forever.

1. Visions Of You - Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart 2. Life's What You Make It (Extended Mix) - Talk Talk 3. Birthday (Justin Robertson 12" Mix) - The Sugarcubes 4. Feel Every Beat (DNA Remix) - Electronic 5. Hallelujah (Club Mix) - Happy Mondays 6. Big In Japan (Remix '88) - Alphaville 7. Transition - Renegade Soundwave 8. Notorious (Extended Mix) - Duran Duran 9. Prisoner To Desire (Razormaid! Mix) - Psyche 10. Love Comes Quickly (Dance Mix) - Pet Shop Boys 11. Policy Of Truth (Beat Box Mix) - Depeche Mode 12. Walking Away (Space Age Mix) - Information Society 13. True Faith (Shep Pettibone Remix) - New Order 14. Subversion (Razormaid! Mix) - Tanz Waffen 15. Machines (LP Edit) - Red Flag Notes and other random things: Somebody slap me if I try to take several years off from podcasting ever again. I had to pretty much relearn everything I had known about my cheap mixer and recording software from scratch. Not only that, new updates to software means new interfaces and having to learn where all the navigation features are all over again. You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but at least he can relearn old tricks since forgotten. Anyway, on to the music. Starting everything off is sort of a forgotten gem by John Joseph Wardle, also known as the inimitable Jah Wobble. The track peaked at #10 on the US Modern Rock charts back in 1992. Featuring the unmistakable backing vocals of a young Sinead O' Connor, the song was a staple on college radio back in the day. But it almost never happened. Following his stint as the original bassist for Public Image Ltd., Wobble formed Invaders of the Heart in 1983, but sometime in the mid-80s became disillusioned with the commercialism prevalent in the music industry. That and his penchant for drunken brawls let to a hiatus from music. Thankfully, a friend and former bandmate convinced him to return. A live recording he made led to a new contract with a small European label, which propelled him to further success with subsequent Invaders albums. Since the early 90s, Wobble's world music leanings and unique dub-style bass playing has shown up in numerous collaborations with a wide range of musicians of all musical backgrounds. Talk Talk hasn't appeared a lot in CRC, but that's mainly due to the freeform nature of their later music and their lack of "hits" if you will. That's not at all a slam on the group or their style. In my honest opinion they were one of the more original groups coming out of the 80s. And that's not to say they didn't have their share of chart success, but like some other well-respected bands, as their popularity ebbs, their critical acclaim skyrockets. Mixed by producer extraordinaire Tim Friese-Greene, who co-produced Thomas Dolby's "Golden Age Of Wireless" album and has done work with another of my favorite bands, Catherine Wheel, this Extended Mix appeared in February of 1986. According to the band, there was also another 12" mix of this track, by Dennis Weinrich, that was omitted from the "Asides Besides" compilation where this track was taken to "stop the listener from being driven crazy". Seems like I'm going to have to find that one now ... Although the original version of "Birthday" by The Sugarcubes is one of my favorite Sugarcubes tunes, and although I got to see them live back in 1989 opening for Public Image Ltd. and New Order, and although Bjork has attained a level of success whereby she needs only one name, I think the more interesting persona involved with the remix is Justin Robertson. It's unprecedented for me to write about remixers in CRC, but to any music lover at the turn of the 90s Justin's name has probably surfaced many, many times in record collections everywhere. Turned on to music by the burgeoning acid house scene while a student in Manchester, Robertson quickly jumped headlong into the club scene, taking the record store to DJ to club owner route. Erasure, Bjork, Happy Mondays, New Order, Talk Talk, Stereo MCs and Gary Clail are just a few of the more recognizable names Justin has worked with. You may have noticed that four of those artists/bands are featured in this podcast. Coincidence? Well, yes, it was just coincidence. To read more about Justin Robertson's odyssey, you can check him out at <a href="http://thedeadstock33s-justinrobertson.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://thedeadstock33s-justinrobertson.com/</a> Four albums and twelve singles. That's the total output of Renegade Soundwave's eight-year run as dance/east-end hip-hop/dub/sampling/electro-industrialist noise-makers. The song here, Transition, is from their "In Dub" album, which was a quick follow-up to the success of their first long-play album, "Soundclash". Released in 1989, "Soundclash" followed up several popular singles: "The Kray Twins", "Biting My Nails", and "Probably A Robbery", which charted at #38 in the UK during the year 1990. "Probably A Robbery", though gained chart legs mostly due to the b-side, "Ozone Breakdown", a favorite in dance clubs somewhat due to the prominent sample from the cult film, "The Warriors". RSW have been cited by The Chemical Brothers as a major influence. Red Flag, in my opinion as far as electronic dance music goes, was very under-appreciated. Buried beneath their hearty dance beats are beautiful pop songs with lush melodies and harmonies and catchy hooks, at least that was the case with their earlier material, including the track here, "Machines". Originally called Shades Of May, the band was conceived in 1982 and consisted of brothers Mark and Chris Reynolds. Both classically trained musicians, by 1984 the two took seriously to studying music and computer technology. A 1988 gig for a Southern California record pool got them noticed by producer Jon St. James. Shortly thereafter, their first single "Broken Heart" (an amazing song, no less) made its debut. Stacey Q, of "Two Of Hearts" fame, co-produced the single with St. James. Their album "Naive Art", a fantastic album from start to finish that included dance hits such as "Russian Radio" and "If I Ever", appeared in 1989. If timing is everything, the brothers' was impeccable as "Naive Art" hit the streets just as Depeche Mode were riding high at what was perhaps the peak of their songwriting prowess. As such, Red Flag's sound struck a chord, literally and figuratively with the synthpop crowds who, ahem, just couldn't get enough of DM at the time. Regulars to CRC will notice a rather robust selection of Razormaid! remixes throughout these podcasts and "Naive Art" remains the only album Joseph Watt and Co. from Razormaid! ever produced in its entirety. Paul Robb of Information Society also helped with the production. Red Flag were victims of label doldrums twice: the first was the dissolution of Enigma Records in 1991, which led to their signing to IRS, the label on which "Machines" appeared. The second was the following year when they were dropped from IRS, an event which, considering the label's impending financial troubles, may have been rather fortuitous. The brothers also had the foresight to use their advance to build their own studio, which would be home of their own label, Plan B Records. It would be the imprint of all future releases. While the band is still actively recording, Mark Reynolds sadly committed suicide in 2003. May he rest in peace and may his music live on forever.

CRC Retro Mix #38 

1. Messages (Razormaid! Mix) - Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark 2. Computer World - Kraftwerk 3. Perfect Kiss - New Order 4. Unveiling the Secret (Remix) - Psyche 5. Desperate But Not Serious - Adam Ant 6. Atomic - Blondie 7. It's Called a Heart (Razormaid! Mix) - Depeche Mode 8. Talk Talk (Extended Version) - Talk Talk 9. Space Age Love Song - A Flock Of Seagulls 10. Train of Thought (Extended Mix) - a-ha 11. The Sound of the Crowd (12" Version) (Complete) - The Human League 12. Uncertain Smile (12" Mix) - The The 13. Nowhere Girl - B-Movie 14. Cool Blue - Eurythmics 15. Tainted Love '91 - Soft Cell Notes: Hi, again! This is my second installment of the Retro Reboot series. It's kind of a way to revisit some of my better, older podcasts while I get everything ready to do some new podcasts in the near future. For some of you these episodes will be familiar, but for some of my newer friends and listeners they will sound completely new. Regardless, it's all great music that should be heard. This particular episode was originally published in February of 2011. Happy listening!

1. Messages (Razormaid! Mix) - Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark 2. Computer World - Kraftwerk 3. Perfect Kiss - New Order 4. Unveiling the Secret (Remix) - Psyche 5. Desperate But Not Serious - Adam Ant 6. Atomic - Blondie 7. It's Called a Heart (Razormaid! Mix) - Depeche Mode 8. Talk Talk (Extended Version) - Talk Talk 9. Space Age Love Song - A Flock Of Seagulls 10. Train of Thought (Extended Mix) - a-ha 11. The Sound of the Crowd (12" Version) (Complete) - The Human League 12. Uncertain Smile (12" Mix) - The The 13. Nowhere Girl - B-Movie 14. Cool Blue - Eurythmics 15. Tainted Love '91 - Soft Cell Notes: Hi, again! This is my second installment of the Retro Reboot series. It's kind of a way to revisit some of my better, older podcasts while I get everything ready to do some new podcasts in the near future. For some of you these episodes will be familiar, but for some of my newer friends and listeners they will sound completely new. Regardless, it's all great music that should be heard. This particular episode was originally published in February of 2011. Happy listening!

CRC Retro Reboot #2 (originally broadcast 2-18-11)

I am not the type to write reviews but this is the best podcast for authentic New Wave, Post-Punk, Industrial Dance, etc. music. There is no talk - just expertly mixed music as if you were in a club with track listings and artists as well as liner notes. I was fortunate enough to download most of the podcasts and I listen to them all of the time. If you are the type to go to follow a dj from club to club, used to read Star Hits or B-Side Magazine, listened to WLIR/WDRE, watched 120 Minutes, etc, etc, then this podcast is for you!

The best dance music podcast for "classic alternative" music.

Yours was by far my favorite podcast and I was sad to see it go (and that the older episodes are no longer on Itunes, please let us know if there is another place where we can access them).  Very happy that you are back!  Happy to also contribute to the podcast if you post how.

For anyone new, it&#39;s a beautifully mixed podcast of new wave music, familiar and not so familiar...  Must listen to a few episodes and you will fall in love with it!

So Happy You Are Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think you know all there is to know about new wave, pop, synthpop, and early electronica from the 80s and 90s? Think again. Groove to a continuous mix of some of the great retro dance club classics, forgotten gems and rarities from one of music's greatest eras. Pop your collar, strap on a Swatch or five and enjoy!

Clearance Rack Classics Retro 80s and 90s Dance Mix by DJ Tintin

1. The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight (Dominant Mix) - Dominatrix 2. Touched By The Hand Of God (Razormaid! Mix) - New Order 3. West End Girls (Razormaid! Mix) - Pet Shop Boys 4. Kiss You (When It's Dangerous) (Extended Remix) - Eight Seconds 5. The Promise - When In Rome 6. A Letter From Afar (Big Mix) - B-Movie 7. Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) - A Flock Of Seagulls 8. Brave New World (Razormaid! Mix) - Moskwa TV 9. Situations - Cetu Javu 10. LFO - LFO 11. Change Your Mind (Razormaid! Mix) - Gary Numan 12. Shellshock - New Order 13. Don't Go (Razormaid! Mix) - Yaz 14. Getting Away With It (Razormaid! Mix) - Electronic 15. Love U More (A Version) - Sunscreem    Notes: I'm back! Well, kind of. It's been a long three years away, but a career change, a cross-country move, starting a family and all the obligations that go along with it quickly push podcasting down the ol' priority list. It also didn't help that all of my music has been in packing boxes since the move. Well, that has recently changed and I'm starting to get it all organized again, meaning I'm hoping to start doing podcasts again. They probably won't be as frequent as I'd like, but it will be something, which is more than the nothing I've given you, my listeners, for the past long while.  During the process of unearthing my music collection, I came across some of my earlier podcasts. Because I ditched my Pro account for the free one in light of my time constraints, most of my old podcasts were removed from this site as my storage capacity was severely depleted. While I try to get organized, I thought it might be cool to re-post some of my better, earlier efforts. For new listeners, it will give you some new material to listen to. For those who have been with me from the start, it will at least replace the podcasts that have been up for an eternity. The one here is the one that started it all: my first ever podcast.  I'll post the track list in the next day or so for those who do not have it. In the meantime, it's good to be back (well, kind of).  Happy Listening!

1. The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight (Dominant Mix) - Dominatrix 2. Touched By The Hand Of God (Razormaid! Mix) - New Order 3. West End Girls (Razormaid! Mix) - Pet Shop Boys 4. Kiss You (When It's Dangerous) (Extended Remix) - Eight Seconds 5. The Promise - When In Rome 6. A Letter From Afar (Big Mix) - B-Movie 7. Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) - A Flock Of Seagulls 8. Brave New World (Razormaid! Mix) - Moskwa TV 9. Situations - Cetu Javu 10. LFO - LFO 11. Change Your Mind (Razormaid! Mix) - Gary Numan 12. Shellshock - New Order 13. Don't Go (Razormaid! Mix) - Yaz 14. Getting Away With It (Razormaid! Mix) - Electronic 15. Love U More (A Version) - Sunscreem Notes: I'm back! Well, kind of. It's been a long three years away, but a career change, a cross-country move, starting a family and all the obligations that go along with it quickly push podcasting down the ol' priority list. It also didn't help that all of my music has been in packing boxes since the move. Well, that has recently changed and I'm starting to get it all organized again, meaning I'm hoping to start doing podcasts again. They probably won't be as frequent as I'd like, but it will be something, which is more than the nothing I've given you, my listeners, for the past long while. During the process of unearthing my music collection, I came across some of my earlier podcasts. Because I ditched my Pro account for the free one in light of my time constraints, most of my old podcasts were removed from this site as my storage capacity was severely depleted. While I try to get organized, I thought it might be cool to re-post some of my better, earlier efforts. For new listeners, it will give you some new material to listen to. For those who have been with me from the start, it will at least replace the podcasts that have been up for an eternity. The one here is the one that started it all: my first ever podcast. I'll post the track list in the next day or so for those who do not have it. In the meantime, it's good to be back (well, kind of). Happy Listening!

CRC Retro Reboot #1 (originally broadcast 4-23-10)

1. The Chase - Propaganda2. Follow the Rainbow (Razormaid! Mix) - Joe Machine3. X-Rated (Moonitor Version) - Psyche4. 19 (Destruction Mix) - Paul Hardcastle5. Humatic (Razormaid! Mix) - League of Gentlemen 6. World in my Eyes (Oil Tank Mix) - Depeche Mode7. Situations (Razormaid! Mix) - Cetu Javu8. Thinking of You - Seven Red Seven9. Handsome (Psycho-Ray Mix) - Camouflage10. Komputer Pop - Komputer11. Heaven (Extended Version) - Until December12. Spooky (Magimix) - New Order13. Render - Lassigue Bendthaus14. W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G. - Front 24215. One World - Ajax Notes and other random things: Update as of (02-01-12):  God golly ... is it already February?!?! Just realized I forgot to do my notes and random things for this podcast, which was already over a month ago! Jeez. Well, it's on the way, plus a new podcast once I find time to record. New job, new family member, new year and a cross-country move on the horizon are taking up all my time at the moment. Did you notice all the "newness" in that last sentence? Yet here I am dishing out what Bryan Ferry would call "The Same Old Scene" when it comes to reasons why I can't seem to get podcasts up in a reasonable amount of time anymore. Or, like ABC's Martin Frye crooned, "Excuses have their uses, but they're all used up." Seriously, though, I can't recall being any busier in my entire life and I beg your indulgence with my slow updates of late.Update as of (02-04-12): Let's look at a few of the bands in this particular episode (finally, right!?) I want to start with League of Gentlemen. Funny I want to start with a band I know almost nothing about, but it's really the concept of this song that intrigues me so much. Back in the 80s, there were a lot of industrial-sounding bands that were fascinated with the synthesis between man and machine and what it might entail for the survival of the human race. Mysterious Art, for instance, if you recall from an eariler episode, touched on the theme with Men of Glass. There were plenty of others. This excellent number from 1987 does the same. On a side note, I have always been fascinated how Eastern Bloc industrial artists could always seem to write cool songs even though they barely knew English. Somehow they take sentence fragments and comma splices, add the letter "z" wherever there is supposed to be an "s", pluralize words like "informationz" and still manage to give me chills. That's talent! Of course, this band only had enough talent to do one song because I haven't, to date, found anything else by these guys ... at least in this incarnation. As we have learned with producers like Morton, Sherman and Belucci they can "seed" an entire genre by doing hundreds of one-off bands to create a scene as those guys did with the Belgian New Beat dance scene years ago. So, maybe the guys in LOG reformed under another moniker. I'll have to look into it sometime.But there's more to this "Humatic" phenomenon than meets the eye. As with other electronic groups who explored man's servitude to the rise of machines there is an inherent lack of logic there that makes me chuckle. I've played it out for you below, though names have been changed to protect the innocent. (Note: this is a completely fictional account)Klaus: Hi, Gert.Gert: Howdy, Klaus.Klaus: Say, Gert, how would you like to be in a band with me?Gert: Sounds great, Klaus. But is this another one of your band concepts that requires I wear lederhosen on stage while dumping a stein full of Krautspatzle over my head?Klaus: No, Gert. This one is much better. I want to explore the relationship between man and machine and how eventually, due to elementary chaos theory, all machines will morph and rise up against their masters and enslave them, breed with them and create a hybrid race of automatons that will exterminate all humanity.Gert: Count me in!Klaus: Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the drum machines, sequencing keyboards, electronic samplers and Commodore computers that we'll be using. Gert: Sounds great, Klaus. I can't see anything that can go wrong with this utterly ironic plan of yours. By the way, do you have a band name yet?Klaus: I sure do, Gert. I wanted something memorable and easy to recall, so it's come down to either Braunschweiger Umweltverschmutzung or League of Gentlemen. Gert: Rad.  Update as of (02-17-12): I don't have anymore fantastic re-enactments for the next band in the arsenal. In fact, like League of Gentlemen, I have little to no information at all about Joe Machine either, though I think I came across his social networking page on MySpace ... or at least some guy who goes by the name Joe Machine. Anyway, we have ZYX records in Germany to thank for this release and divinity to thank for the voice that is eerily reminiscent of Daniel Ash from Bauhaus/Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets fame.As is the case so often with electronic music of this era, "Kraftwerk creep" rears its head a couple of times in this episode. Seeing as how they are one of the most influential collectives in electronic music history it's not surprising that so many others to follow were touched by their genius. From tempo to timbre to replicating the "Musique non-stop" mantra found in the Kraftwerk tune of the same name from the Electric Cafe album, Psyche's X-rated is a delectable morsel of synthetic cyber-porn sleaze that captures the Kraftwerk-ian spirit perfectly and garners this episode an "explicit" tag in the process. Sebastian Komor of Icon of Coil remixed the track. Then, there is the awesome, sub-splitting frequencies of the track Komputer Pop by the band Komputer. If you recall, I mentioned this band when discussing the group I Start Counting several episodes ago as they, Fortran 5 and Komputer are all brain children of David Baker and Simon Leonard. If you haven't done so and you are a Kraftwerk fan, I highly recommend Komputer's first album called World of Tomorrow. It's a fantastic concept album and is about as close to replicating the Kraftwerk sound as you're going to find. There are a bunch of great tracks to boot. And in case you missed it, Baker and Leonard recently released a compilation of tracks spanning all three iterations of their long-time collaboration. Called Konnecting, it contains 15 tracks. For die-hards, they also released a companion 60-track digital deluxe set of b-sides and rarities with tons of remixes. If you have never owned anything by these guys, the new set is a fantastic place to begin and perhaps end if you're not a completist when it comes to music collecting. More to come ...

1. The Chase - Propaganda2. Follow the Rainbow (Razormaid! Mix) - Joe Machine3. X-Rated (Moonitor Version) - Psyche4. 19 (Destruction Mix) - Paul Hardcastle5. Humatic (Razormaid! Mix) - League of Gentlemen 6. World in my Eyes (Oil Tank Mix) - Depeche Mode7. Situations (Razormaid! Mix) - Cetu Javu8. Thinking of You - Seven Red Seven9. Handsome (Psycho-Ray Mix) - Camouflage10. Komputer Pop - Komputer11. Heaven (Extended Version) - Until December12. Spooky (Magimix) - New Order13. Render - Lassigue Bendthaus14. W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G. - Front 24215. One World - Ajax Notes and other random things: Update as of (02-01-12):  God golly ... is it already February?!?! Just realized I forgot to do my notes and random things for this podcast, which was already over a month ago! Jeez. Well, it's on the way, plus a new podcast once I find time to record. New job, new family member, new year and a cross-country move on the horizon are taking up all my time at the moment. Did you notice all the "newness" in that last sentence? Yet here I am dishing out what Bryan Ferry would call "The Same Old Scene" when it comes to reasons why I can't seem to get podcasts up in a reasonable amount of time anymore. Or, like ABC's Martin Frye crooned, "Excuses have their uses, but they're all used up." Seriously, though, I can't recall being any busier in my entire life and I beg your indulgence with my slow updates of late.Update as of (02-04-12): Let's look at a few of the bands in this particular episode (finally, right!?) I want to start with League of Gentlemen. Funny I want to start with a band I know almost nothing about, but it's really the concept of this song that intrigues me so much. Back in the 80s, there were a lot of industrial-sounding bands that were fascinated with the synthesis between man and machine and what it might entail for the survival of the human race. Mysterious Art, for instance, if you recall from an eariler episode, touched on the theme with Men of Glass. There were plenty of others. This excellent number from 1987 does the same. On a side note, I have always been fascinated how Eastern Bloc industrial artists could always seem to write cool songs even though they barely knew English. Somehow they take sentence fragments and comma splices, add the letter "z" wherever there is supposed to be an "s", pluralize words like "informationz" and still manage to give me chills. That's talent! Of course, this band only had enough talent to do one song because I haven't, to date, found anything else by these guys ... at least in this incarnation. As we have learned with producers like Morton, Sherman and Belucci they can "seed" an entire genre by doing hundreds of one-off bands to create a scene as those guys did with the Belgian New Beat dance scene years ago. So, maybe the guys in LOG reformed under another moniker. I'll have to look into it sometime. But there's more to this "Humatic" phenomenon than meets the eye. As with other electronic groups who explored man's servitude to the rise of machines there is an inherent lack of logic there that makes me chuckle. I've played it out for you below, though names have been changed to protect the innocent. (Note: this is a completely fictional account) Klaus: Hi, Gert.Gert: Howdy, Klaus.Klaus: Say, Gert, how would you like to be in a band with me?Gert: Sounds great, Klaus. But is this another one of your band concepts that requires I wear lederhosen on stage while dumping a stein full of Krautspatzle over my head?Klaus: No, Gert. This one is much better. I want to explore the relationship between man and machine and how eventually, due to elementary chaos theory, all machines will morph and rise up against their masters and enslave them, breed with them and create a hybrid race of automatons that will exterminate all humanity.Gert: Count me in! Klaus: Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the drum machines, sequencing keyboards, electronic samplers and Commodore computers that we'll be using. Gert: Sounds great, Klaus. I can't see anything that can go wrong with this utterly ironic plan of yours. By the way, do you have a band name yet?Klaus: I sure do, Gert. I wanted something memorable and easy to recall, so it's come down to either Braunschweiger Umweltverschmutzung or League of Gentlemen. Gert: Rad. Update as of (02-17-12): I don't have anymore fantastic re-enactments for the next band in the arsenal. In fact, like League of Gentlemen, I have little to no information at all about Joe Machine either, though I think I came across his social networking page on MySpace ... or at least some guy who goes by the name Joe Machine. Anyway, we have ZYX records in Germany to thank for this release and divinity to thank for the voice that is eerily reminiscent of Daniel Ash from Bauhaus/Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets fame.As is the case so often with electronic music of this era, "Kraftwerk creep" rears its head a couple of times in this episode. Seeing as how they are one of the most influential collectives in electronic music history it's not surprising that so many others to follow were touched by their genius. From tempo to timbre to replicating the "Musique non-stop" mantra found in the Kraftwerk tune of the same name from the Electric Cafe album, Psyche's X-rated is a delectable morsel of synthetic cyber-porn sleaze that captures the Kraftwerk-ian spirit perfectly and garners this episode an "explicit" tag in the process. Sebastian Komor of Icon of Coil remixed the track. Then, there is the awesome, sub-splitting frequencies of the track Komputer Pop by the band Komputer. If you recall, I mentioned this band when discussing the group I Start Counting several episodes ago as they, Fortran 5 and Komputer are all brain children of David Baker and Simon Leonard. If you haven't done so and you are a Kraftwerk fan, I highly recommend Komputer's first album called World of Tomorrow. It's a fantastic concept album and is about as close to replicating the Kraftwerk sound as you're going to find. There are a bunch of great tracks to boot. And in case you missed it, Baker and Leonard recently released a compilation of tracks spanning all three iterations of their long-time collaboration. Called Konnecting, it contains 15 tracks. For die-hards, they also released a companion 60-track digital deluxe set of b-sides and rarities with tons of remixes. If you have never owned anything by these guys, the new set is a fantastic place to begin and perhaps end if you're not a completist when it comes to music collecting. More to come ...

CRC Retro Mix #36

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