WHILE THE MOTIVES OF RECORD LABELS WERE OFTEN CALLED INTO QUESTION, REMIX ALBUMS WERE CERTAINLY AFFORDABLE AND OFFERED SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR THE MUSIC CONSUMER, AS OUR LATEST COUNTDOWN REVEALS
BARRY PAGE
I n the early 80s, savvy record labels were well aware of the proliferating popularity of the 12-inch remix – a phenomenon that originated in the disco era – and realised they could create entire albums on a tight budget using previously released material, and often with little artist involvement. For many consumers and critics the remix album was just a stopgap release – or worse still an opportunistic money-grabbing exercise – but more often than not these mid-priced collections allowed artists to present their work in a very different light. Some even turned the format into a veritable art form. Covering the period 1981 to 1990, we’ve picked out a decade’s worth of these pocket money-friendly delights.
20 GO WEST BANGS & CRASHES (1986) By the time Go West had collected their British Breakthrough Act award at the BRITs in February 1986 it’d been almost 12 months since the release of their hit-packed debut album, while follow-up Dancing On The Couch was another year away. In the interim, Chrysalis released this double LP of odds and sods, which collected remixes, non-album cuts – including One Way Street, their contribution to the Rocky IV soundtrack – and live tracks such as Ball Of Confusion, which saw backing vocalists Carol Kenyon and Sylvia Mason-James taking the lead on the Motown classic.
19 EURYTHMICS TOUCH DANCE (1984) Testament to their work ethic, Eurythmics recorded and mixed Touch, the quickfire follow-up to breakthrough album Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), in just three weeks, and by spring 1984 the duo had five Top 10 hits. RCA capitalised on their popularity with companion LP Touch Dance, which comprised newly-commissioned vocal and instrumental remixes by then-hot producers François Kevorkian and John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez. The much-overlooked LP was unusual in that it reworked tracks which weren’t hit singles, though Annie and Dave reportedly didn’t approve of the release.
18 FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS THE RAW & THE REMIX (1990) Ostensibly released to buy FYC time following the huge transatlantic success of The Raw And The Cooked and its attendant singles, this album rounded up an array of interesting interpretations of some of their hits. Featuring the London-born rapper, the ‘Monie Love Remix’ of She Drives Me Crazy was indicative of the creativity on offer, but some reviewers were left unimpressed:
