ELECTRONICALLY YOURS TURNS 40!
30th June 1978 the world saw the coming of one of the most important releases in the electronic music history as the Electronically Yours 7" single with Being Boiled as A-side and Circus Of Death as b-side was released by Fast Records. With both tracks written and produced by the band, it didn't chart due to the low key release by an independant label, but it did earn some good reviews as Melody Maker wrote that "the machines are taking over" (I'm counting that as a good thing!) while Slash Magazine recommended "If you’re interested in that “death of rock n roll” concept, check it out. If you’re not, buy a pail of sand and immerse your head in it." After the success of Dare it was re-released by EMI in January 1982 and this time fared much better, reaching no 6 in the UK Singles Charts.
With 20/20 hindsight the release of especially Being Boiled has proved to be a keystone in the history of electronic music and is hailed by fans, musicians and DJ's all over the world as inspiration. From Simple Minds to Icehouse, Red Hot Chili Peppers to Jarvis Cocker and Beborn Beton to Camouflage, this classic has been covered and sampled in any shape or form, but nothing beats the original recording. Being Boiled is still going strong 30 years after it's release and sounds better than ever as an integral part of the bands live set. So why not celebrate the anniversary of this important piece of music history in style? www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk has teamed up with some talented musicians, remixers and dj's from around the world with a passion for The Human League, and they have each delivered a fine mix of one of the tracks from the Electronically Yours single.
The final mix of Circus Of Death is a real scoop, as Denmarks proud king of Industrial Claus Larsen delivers a truly stunning version of the old classic. You may know him better under the monikers Leatherstrip (http://www.myspace.com/leaetherstrip) and Klutae (http://www.myspace.com/klutae) and it was under the latter he released a cover version of Circus Of Death on the Hit'N'Run album in 2006 on Alfa Matrix (http://www.alfa-matrix.com/). So I contacted him to hear if he would re-design his version as a remix to celebrate it's 30 years anniversary. And he was more than happy to apply as he turns out to be a big Human League fan and a regular visitor of this modest website. In fact he told me that "It would in be an honour as I actually bought this release when it first came out. I love this track and could make 20 versions of it. I'll strip off the vocal, add some synth in the verses to spice them up and do a bit of fine tuning. If only I could get hold of the old vocal track and put on top of my version. Oh sweet dreams". And he has certainly delivered a great mix, and it's quite interesting to hear how a slightly more industrial take really suits this song. Claus has been very faithful to the original, but at the same time updated the sounds for this century and added his own thumbprint.
Click on image to enjoy.
It's the big finale! And what a way to end the celebrations as first man up is Matt Pop, who once again excells with his amazing remixing skills. He was responsible for the ultracool Matt Mix of I Am The Law for the Dare 2007 Fan Mix project and you can check that mix and his details out here. This time round he's made a fantastic dub mix of Being Boiled and cunningly mixed it with the rhythm part of Life On Your Own while adding lots of cool sounds and bleeps that's inspired by the original. Brilliant!
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As we count down to the big final, Lasse Mønsted steps forward with another great effort. Last time he delivered a rather tasty remix of The Sound Of The Crowd for the Dare 2007 Fan Mix project. You can check the mix and his details out here and hear more of his own music at his myspace site: www,myspace.com/borderrun. Circus Of Death has never sounded better as Lasse serves up a brilliant mix with the bassline taking centerstage, great pounding beats, inventive use of the original vocal samples and lots of cool sounds added.
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This week Matt McKenzie of Hypnotica fame is up to his old tricks again! If you have followed this website, you'll remember his unique takes on Love Action (I Believe In Love), Do Or Die and Total Panic. For more info, check out his website. This time round he's delivered a great mix of of Being Boiled. The track did cause him some problems, as he made 14(!) different versions of it, but in the end he struck gold with brilliant instrumental version that has the Hypnotica stamp all over it, but at the same time has kept some of the cool sounds of the original.
Click on image to enjoy.
Next contributor that steps up to the plate is UK's own Mike Prouten. Long time Human League fan and If you frequent the Human League forum at www.humanleagueforum.co.uk you will also know him as mickeypblueremix. He dabbles with making music and mixes in his leasure time and it was natural that his first mix would be of a Human League track. So he went through his archives and located a rather disturbing version of Circus Of Death. This is what he had to say about it: "I started off the mix with a vocal that I generated using a speech synthesis website (I did plan on using it in the middle, as a kind of news report, but it didn't work), then the samples I got from the internet, including the hissing sound which is from a white noise site. Finally, I used the sound from the start of The Dignity of Labour part 4, which fits very nicely into the track. It's not a dancey remix, more of a scary one...listen to it with the lights off for the full effect…". This mix is a great addition to the more dance oriented stuff and really suits the track. So turn off the lights and lock the door!
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First contribution is from fellow country man Peter Visti, wellknown DJ and producer. He's been making a name for himself with some soulful and airy balearic disco releases for Eskimo Recordings, Mindless Boogie and Spacetalk Records under his own name and the moniker Lurifax. You can learn more on his myspace here. I accidently came across him as I was roaming the world wide web for anything Human league related, as he had created his own edit of Being Boiled as part of his Cosmic Disco Megamix here. And since I liked what I heard, I contacted him to learn if he was interested in contributing with the full, isolated version of the mix. And he very kindly donated the track to the Electronically Yours Celebrations. Peter has created a mainly instrumental mix with added synthetic strings, new bassline , subtle beats and a repetetive quality that makes your feet tap.
Click on image to enjoy.
