DOUBLE

YOUR PRAYER TAKES ME OFF
(THE SWICO RE-TOUCH)

Your Prayer Takes Me Off was a single released in 1986 following on from the successful The Captain Of Her Heart. Both of which were from Double's 1985 debut album Blue.

The track is the most uptempo and dance driven song on the album but did not chart. The version here was known as The Swico Re-Touch when the original Canadian 12" was released but in recent years I have seen it renamed the London Mix as a bonus track on a reissue of Double's Blue on CD. There was also a Dub Version of Your Prayer Takes Me Off released as the B-side of both the 7" and 12" of The Captain Of Her Heart in some countries but I have yet to hear this version.

YOUR PRAYER TAKES ME OFF (THE SWICO RE-TOUCH)

THE 80's MASH-UP

PRINCE VS. MICHAEL JACKSON

BEATDANCE (JUST BAT IT)

Another full 80's mash-up for you and some more of Prince's Batdance too. This one was mixed by VeeringAxiom who put together Michael Jackson's Beat It with Prince's Batdance. This is what VeeringAxiom said about this mash-up:

"I wanted to find something that mixed with Beat It, and preferably by Prince. I mean, come on - the Prince and MJ dynamic? How could you miss an opportunity like that? And out of all things, that Prince song ended up being Batdance, which seemed odd at first, but when I began to mix them, it worked like a charm. I'm not saying this because I think I'm so great at mashing or anything, but when I listened to how the second verse of Beat It blended with the catchy synthesizer line from Batdance, and when I noticed the placement of the guitar solos in each song, I began to think that Prince got some of his inspiration for Batdance by listening to Beat It - like he played the song in the background and started adding his own stuff around it, and eventually polished it and rearranged it enough to make his own original song. Yes, I'm aware that elements of his 200 Balloons were reused in Batdance, but there were plenty of other parts that originated when Batdance occurred. Anyway, please enjoy. And for those of you wondering, I did try to make a mash-up involving the totally different second half of Batdance, but I just wasn't satisfied with any other song I tried to blend into it."

VeeringAxiom has done two versions of this mashup. You can find the original post at his own website here.

BEATDANCE (JUST BAT IT) (VEERINGAXIOM 2007 REFRESH)

BEATDANCE (JUST BAT IT) (VEERINGAXIOM 2007 REMASH)

PRINCE

BATDANCE
(THE BATMIX)
(VICKI VALE MIX)
(FULL LENGTH ALBUM VERSION)

Batdance was a single from the 1989 Batman soundtrack and with the help of the film's popularity, the song reached number one in the U.S., becoming Prince's fourth number-one single, and first since 1986's Kiss. Batdance was also Prince's first single to be issued on compact disc in the U.S..

The track was actually a last-minute replacement for a brooding track titled Dance with the Devil, which Prince felt was too dark. Incidentally, though Dance with the Devil remains unreleased, some of the lyrics appear on the album's liner notes.

Batdance is almost two songs in one—a chaotic, mechanical dancebeat that changes gears into a slinky, funky groove before changing back for the song's conclusion. The track is an amalgam of many musical ideas floating around at the time. No fewer than six songs (some unreleased) contributed to Batdance: 200 Balloons, We Got the Power, House in Order, Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic, The Future, and Electric Chair. Some of these were mere snippets, and other segments showed up only in remixes of the track. The song was also loaded with dialog samples from the film.

The 12" single and some CD versions of the single included two remixes of Batdance that were done by Mark Moore and William Orbit, The Batmix and Vicki Vale Mix. The Batmix focuses on the chaotic "rock" section of Batdance and is supplemented with electronic distortion and sampling of voices and instruments. It contains a few new lyrics, as well as more samples of Rave Unto the Joy Fantastic. The Vicki Vale Mix is an extension of the middle part of Batdance, which includes most of the movie dialog. Prince also adds a line or 2 of two lyrics to this version.

BATDANCE (THE BATMIX)

BATDANCE (VICKI VALE MIX)

BATDANCE (FULL LENGTH ALBUM VERSION)

STEVIE WONDER

GO HOME
(ORIGINAL EXTENDED 12" VERSION)

Go Home was the second single from Stevie Wonder's 1985 album In Square Circle following the successful single Part-Time Lover. The song became another #1 adult contemporary hit for Wonder and reached #10 on the pop singles chart. It was Wonder's last Top 10 hit on the Billboard pop singles chart and is my favourite track from his 80's catalogue.

Many thanks to Oznerol for this gem!

GO HOME (ORIGINAL EXTENDED 12" VERSION)

Go Home was performed at the 1985 Grammy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, California in the infamous synthesizer jam with other contemporaries Herbie Hancock, Howard Jones and Thomas Dolby.

SEVERED HEADS

BIG CAR
(ORIGINAL 12" LIMO MIX)
(ORIGINAL 12" CRASH MIX)

(RETREAD MIX)

Another track from my favourite Australian group. Big Car was Severed Heads 3rd 12" single release from the group's 1989 album Rotund For Success. This track, and more so the original remixes, is probably the most commercial sounding composition that the band has ever done considering their heavily experimental electronic background. These tracks are now freely available on Severed Heads official site at http://www.sevcom.com/. Check it out!

BIG CAR (ORIGINAL 12" LIMO MIX)

BIG CAR (ORIGINAL 12" CRASH MIX)

BIG CAR (RETREAD MIX)