Duran Duran - Eiffel Tower - 2016

I end the year with my favorite band of all time.  Although I have been disappointed in about 70% of the material they've released since Arcadia and Powerstation, I still stand loyally at their side, forever a champion of their work regardless.....    Well, for the most part.

These last 12 years since they've reunited and released Astronaut, they have had quite a few great tracks.  Some of them weren't discovered as GREAT until they had been reworked by someone else.  A lot of times, a different perspective can help realize gems that had been previously merely adequate.  These are some re-interpretations of a few of those tracks that I have really taken a liking to.

Despite being music covered from the last decade, Johnson Somerset have been the best at mixing D2's singles into works of art.  I have most of their D2 mixes here, plus a few other great mixes by others.  They are all updated mixes to sound so fresh and current, you would think they were brand new songs.  Nothing dated here.  I don't generally like mixes like that, but these really REALLY work well.

I wrapped it up with Simon's newest track, Eiffel Tower.  It's a beauty.  Although his style is different than a D2 track, it's still a pleasure to listen to his voice.  This is a wonderful disc to close the year out...

SO, that's it!  No more posts this year!  Wow!  This has been an interesting and rewarding adventure for me so far.  I feel that I've made some great friends, and I'm happy to be able share my opinion on my favorite subject - music.  I want to thank you all for your support, and for coming religiously every day.  I know that at times I can be aggravating in the selections that I post, but you all have shown some great loyalty, and it is great to know that there are so many of you out there that like the same types of music I do.

I've got all of January and February scheduled out (but only covers through the 22nd of January.  I better get to work!) so you have me for at least that long.  I still have a lot of great ideas ahead, with still some older favorites left, but also newly discovered tunes from the 80s that I'm sure you will enjoy.  Stay with me, and we'll have a blast!

Thanks, again and we will see you in January!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Duran Duran - Eiffel Tower - 2016

Police - Reggatta de Blanc - 1979

 When this album came out, I was 7, almost 8.  I wasn't even into music yet.  I was too busy playing with my Star Wars figures, watching Battlestar Galactica, and riding my bike.  Yes, my parents listened to FM Pop Radio in the car, so I'm sure I heard some of these songs back when they were popular, but I don't remember.  When I got their Greatest Hits in 1985, I already knew most of the songs, but I didn't own an actual Police album other than that.

I finally got this one sometime in 1989-1990 (would be my guess).  I know that when I bought it, I was still in High School, but also living in the midwest, after leaving Chicago in 1988.  I graduated in 1990.  ANYWAY...   I got it at a used record store called Recycled Sounds for about 3.00 on scratched vinyl and scruffed-up cover.  I learned most of these songs with the hiss and pop of an old record.  I almost prefer it that way.

This would be my second favorite Police album behind Synchronicity.  There is a little Power Pop, a little Punk, a little Reggae, a little New Wave and a little Rock.  It showed the true diversity in their style, and the melodies are some of their best, despite what Wikipedia says.  Lyrically, meh.  Sting has done better.  But the music is quality.....

I added the b-sides, and since there weren't any actual Police remixes, I added two fan mixes that sound as if they could be actual period mixes.  They are great!

I still don't understand why they would name their album THAT, though. It seems a tad racist...

Police - Reggatta de Blanc - 1979

I got some questions....

Is it just me, or are any of you having problems downloading from Mega.nz?  I can't seem to get any of the files I've tried to download more than halfway done, and they say that they are too big (more than 1GB) even though they aren't any more than 500MB.  Sucks. Sucks. and more Sucks.

Also, what do you all do with what I give you when you download?  Do any of you actually print up the covers and burn discs and make your own CDs?  Do you embed the cover graphics in the Mp3 files?  What do you do?  I'm sure that 95% of the material I post is stuff you already have, so really it would only be the covers, then.  I don't know. 

What answers do you have for me?

Pet Shop Boys - Behavior - 1990

This was actually the first PSB album I ever purchased.  I did it at the behest of my best friend, who said it was the BEST ALBUM EVER.  Only knowing the few tracks (that now make up their Discography compilation disc), I bought it with high expectations, even though I wasn't really the biggest fan at the time.

I'm sorry.  This album was a bummer the first time I listened to it.  In fact, I only listened to it a couple times before I filed it away as a waste of money.  Can you believe it?

So, then Discography came out, and I got that, and enjoyed it.  Then Very came out, and I was fixed.  THEN, the chain record store in the mall (it's name was 3 letters, I can't remember what it was called...) and they kept getting in all of these sleeved singles (from a variety of groups, but) of the PSB material from West End Girls all the way through Behavior.  Suddenly, I had almost two dozen PSB CD singles, and I knew that I was in it for the long haul.  I finally found Very Relentless at that same record store, and I was in seventh heaven.

After getting all these singles, I decided to go back and actually listen to all of their previous albums, including Behavior.  It was as if my eyes had suddenly been opened, and I was hearing it for the very first time.  With the mixes and the b-sides, I found this album to be essential PSB material from beginning to end.  It's not my favorite PSB album, but it is one of their albums that you must include if you are talking about the volume of their work.

On my version, all of the b-sides are included.  I added in Miserablism, as this is where it rightfully belongs.  I also replaced the two songs with excessively long names with versions that I found preferable to the album mixes.  I had made this cover probably 3 years ago, without knowing I was going to eventually post it, so the versions I replaced aren't noted on the cover, unfortunately.  The track files are, though, so if you don't like the mixes I put in the set, you can easily replace them with the originals without fucking up the album art.

I have a disc of remixes that I've aptly entitled "Excellent Behavior", but I haven't made a cover for it yet.  I dropped it in a folder for Feb 14th, so you'll get it then.  Until that time, enjoy this wonderful album!

Pet Shop Boys - Behavior - 1990

George Michael - A Different Corner

I couldn't get back to my computer until just now, and I don't have any album prepared to celebrate his life, so I'll just remember him here, with this.  He was a great artist, and it saddens me to know that he is gone.  Some of his music was essential to me in my life, and I guess I will never see Listening Without Prejudice Volume II.  His style is something I will always admire, and we are definitely at a loss without him...

Goodbye, George.  You will be missed.

Erasure - Crackers International - 1988

I want everyone to know that this is probably my least favorite Erasure album/EP from the 80s and 90s.  I think the lead singles, Stop and Knocking On Your Door are freeking obnoxious.  Of course, the other 3 tracks on the EP are great. The Christmas songs and Hardest Part are really true sounding Erasure tracks.  I'd put them on a GH album any time.  But those other two....  ugh!  They grate on my nerves! The remixes really save the day, though.  Mark Saunders, one of my top 10 remixers, really pulls both of them out of the mire for me.  The other mixes aren't bad either....

I wanted to post this album, though, because of the Christmas theme.  This is my last post until the 28th, as I'll be out of town for the holiday, and I wanted to wish all of you a happy holiday.  Merry Christmas, folks.  I hope you all are able to spend time with the ones you love, eat to your heart's content, and keep the peace and remember HIS gift.  That's all I've got for you, have a great weekend!

Erasure - Crackers International - 1988

Depeche Mode - Black Celebration Remixes - 1986

The first Depeche Mode album I ever bought was Music For the Masses.  Then I bought Martin Gore's first Counterfeit EP.  Then it was A Broken Frame, then Some Great Reward, THEN Black Celebration... followed a very short time later by the Personal Jesus single right before Violator came out.  So, that's the order I heard their music.  When you do it that way, you start to compare their progression as a band, and it's easier to see where they were then, and where they are now.  A Black Celebration was a unique one for me, and it's one I really think was a turning point for their sound. Was it Martin's turmoiled relationship that affected it?  Who knows.  But I feel that starting with this album, their music took a dramatic turn darker than their previous albums.

It's unfortunate that the two "unreleased tracks" Violence and I Feel No Guilt weren't actually DM songs, as the b-sides for the actual album were minimal.  The best of the additional material for this album was the remixes, which is what I've compiled here.  I know that I've left a couple mixes out (didn't I say that with INXS yesterday?) but I think the ones I've put on here are the best.  With the exception of the exceptional Dreamtime Mix of But Not Tonight, these are all official remixes.  Flood's mixes are obviously the best, but all of them really hit the mark.  This is a wonderful companion disc to the original album...  Good stuff!

Depeche Mode - Black Celebration Remixes - 1986