New 12"/80s remix compilations

Universal Music’s TV advertised 12″/80s remix collections have been ongoing for nearly ten years now, and this autumn sees a pair of new compilations.

Since the original set that kicked off this series (in 2005) we’ve had triple CD releases themed around ‘Classics’, ‘Pop’ (with a cheeky Now That’s What I Call Music inspired cover), ‘Alternative’, ‘Love’ and ‘Club Classics’. In October this year we can add ‘Chilled’ and ‘New Wave’ to this growing list.

It has to be said, these subtitles need to be taken with a pinch of salt. If we look at some of the selections on the new 12″/80s Chilled you would have to say that there is nothing ‘chilled’ about Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero’s noisy, clanky dub remix of Tears For Fears‘ Shout for instance. There are quite a few dub mixes on this set actually, including Soft Cell‘s Tainted Dub/Where Did Our Love Go? as well as dub versions of Culture Club‘s Do You Want To Hurt Me and Hall & Oates‘ Out Of Touch. Dub mixes can be chilled affairs – like the work that came out of Compass Point Studios in the late seventies and early eighties (Grace Jones’ dub mixes are superb) – but it’s not always the case with pop dubs of the mid-eighties.

There’s are some really welcome selections though, including the ‘On The Fly’ mix of Malcolm McClaren‘s Madame Butterfly and the extended version of Crowded House‘s timeless Don’t Dream It’s Over. Elsewhere it’s the usual artists popping up. Not sure if anyone needs The Young Person’s Guide To The 12″ version of Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s Rage Hard and the second ‘remix’ twelve-inch of Swing Out Sister‘s Surrender – the Roadrunner Mix – is definitely more chilled (and rarer) than the familiar Stuff Gun Mix which is what they’ve included here.

Moving on to the second set, ‘New Wave’ is a fairly big bucket in which to chuck your selections and there’s nothing too surprising included in truth. Duran Duran, Simple Minds, Ultravox, Talk Talk, The Human League, Heaven 17all make an appearance. Tears For Fears are back, this time with the twelve-inch version of a song most casual fans probably don’t know exists The Way You Are (it’s a grower).

You could argue that part of the fun of these releases is the fact that they spark off debate about what should have, and could have, been included, but perhaps more contentious than track selections is the pricing. There was a time when £15 for three CDs of 1980s twelve-inch mixes seemed like a great deal, but Sony’s recent Pure 80s Remixes FOUR CD set of similar content retails for only £5 – a third of the price with a third more content. In fact, Universal’s own recent Extended 80s three-CD collection (the one with the unreleased version of Peter Gabriel‘s Sledgehammer) is also only £5.

Universal will be hoping the 12″/80s ‘brand’ and the excellent retro artwork will make a difference and encourage fans to cough up. Let’s here what you think – leave a comment and let me know.

12″/80s Chilled and New Wave are out on 13 October 2014.

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Track listings

12″/80s Chilled

Disc 1

1. Glittering Prize (Club Mix / 2012 Remaster) / Simple Minds
2 Save A Prayer  / Duran Duran
3 Let Me Go (12” Extended Version / 2006 Remaster) Heaven 17
4 Tainted Dub / Where Did Our Love Go? / Soft Cell
5 Christian (Extended Mix) / China Crisis
6 Shout (US Dub Version) / Tears For Fears
7 Extended Souvenir (2003 Remaster) OMD
8 I Second That Emotion / Japan
9 Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (Dub Version) / Culture Club
10 Too Shy (Midnight Mix) / Kajagoogoo
11 Hunting High And Low (Extended Remix) / A-Ha
12 Rapture (Special Disco Mix 2001 Remaster) / Blondie

Disc 2
1 Hold Me Now (Extended Version) / The Thompson Twins
2 Forbidden Colours / David Sylvian
3 Hide And Seek (Extended Version) / Howard Jones
4 Feels Like Heaven (12″ Version) / Fiction Factory
5 Wouldn’t It Be Good (Extended 12″ Mix) / Nik Kershaw
6 Love Beat / The Art Of Noise
7 Out Of Touch (Dub Version) / Hall and Oates
8 Rage Hard (Young Person’s Guide Into The 12 Inch Mix Version) / Frankie Goes To Hollywood
9 Tinseltown In The Rain (2012 Remaster) / The Blue Nile
10 Half A Minute (Extended Version) / Matt Bianco
11 Love Games / Level 42

Disc 3
1 Human (Extended Version) / The Human League
2 Life In A Northern Town (Extended Mix) / The Dream Academy
3 Driving Away From Home (Wicked Weather For Walking) / It’s Immaterial
4 The Perfect Kiss (Extended Version) / New Order
5 Madam Butterfly (On The Fly Mix) / Malcolm McLaren
6 Josephine (La Version Francaise) / Chris Rea
7 Poison Arrow (Jazz Remix) / ABC
8 Don’t Dream It’s Over (Extended Version) / Crowded House
9 Shattered Dreams (12″ Extended Mix / 2008 Remaster) / Johnny Hates Jazz
10 Surrender (Stuff Gun Mix) / Swing Out Sister
11 Slave To Love (12″ Remix) / Bryan Ferry
12 Lovesong (Extended Mix)

12″/80s New Wave

Disc 1

1 Sweat In Bullet (Remix) / Simple Minds
2 The Freeze (Extended Version) / Spandau Ballet
3 Planet Earth (Night Version) / Duran Duran
4 All Stood Still (Extended Version) / Ultravox
5 Talk Talk (Extended Mix) / Talk Talk
6 Visage (Extended Dance Mix) / Visage
7 Working With Fire And Steel (Fire And Steel Mix) / China Crisis
8 Move On (Extended Version) / Fashion
9 Telegraph (Extended Version) / OMD
10 I Could Be Happy (Martin Rushent Remix) / Altered Images
11 Blind Vision (Extended Version) / Blancmange
12 Call Me (Extended Version) / Blondie

Disc 2

1 Don’t You Want Me (Extended Dance Mix / 2012 Remaster) / The Human League
2 European Son (Extended Remix) / Japan
3 I Ran (Club Mix) / A Flock Of Seagulls
4 Is It A Dream (Extended Version) / Classix Nouveaux
5 Who’ll Stop The Rain / Heaven 17
6 The Other Side Of Love (Remixed Extended Version) / Yazoo
7 In The Name Of Love (Extended Version) / The Thompson Twins
8 She Blinded Me With Science / Thomas Dolby
9 White Boy (Extended Mix) / Culture Club
10 The Way You Are (Extended Version) / Tears For Fears
11 Where The Heart Is (Extended Version) / Soft Cell
12 Close To Me (Extended Version) / The Cure

Disc 3

1 She’s Lost Control (Extended Version) / Grace Jones
2 The Earth Dies Screaming / UB40
3 Ghost Town (Extended Version) / The Specials
4 Temptation (Extended Version) / New Order
5 The Telephone Always Rings (Extended Version) / The Fun Boy Three
6 Twist and Crawl (Extended Version) / The Beat
7 One Thing Leads To Another (Extended Version) / The Fixx
8 Stay (Remix) / The Blue Nile
9 The Promise (Coliseum Club Mix) / When In Rome
10 All I Need Is Everything (Remix) / Aztec Camera
11 Silver (Tidal Wave) / Echo And The Bunnymen

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