Icehouse - "Electric Blue"

This came up on the Steve Hoffman board, thanks to the shrewd ears from member voicebug.

First, I direct you to some scans (you may have to be logged in to see them) of the cool blue promo 12" for the song - Chrysalis VAS 2899.

Then, my post from the board:

- -
The first single from the Man Of Colours album (in the US, anyway) was "Crazy". It did nicely on the charts, and was a top 15 single. Not knock-it-out-of-the-park smash, but very respectable.

For the second single, "Electric Blue", Chrysalis wasn't taking any chances. They commissioned Michael Brauer to do a remix for the 45. You probably don't know his name, but he was the "secret weapon" behind a whole lot of 45s in the late '80s, including Roachford's "Cuddly Toy (Feel For Me)", The Four Of Us's "Drag My Bad Name Down", and many others. There were other engineer/producers who did special remixes for the 45s in that time frame, like Chris Lord-Alge ("Be With You" by The Bangles), so it wasn't really out of the ordinary.

In many cases, the 45 remixes found their way onto the full CD of the album (as with the three above examples), and the original mixes became forgotten to history. In some cases, the original pressings of the vinyl LP had the original mixes (as for The Four Of Us) but the CD didn't. I have a few CD compilations from that time period that came out before the songs were hits, and presumably before the remixes were commissioned (a Canadian CD called Big Hits '89 is the only place anywhere that I've seen the original mix of "Be With You").

So, I'd venture that early pressings of the vinyl LP of Man Of Colours had the un-remixed version of "Electric Blue" (I don't have the vinyl LP myself). I say this because of the credit on the "A" side of the promo 12 - From the LP "MAN OF COLOURS" #OV 41592. On the "AA" side, the "Single Version" has the "Mixed by Michael Brauer for MHB Productions" credit and a "SPECIAL UNRELEASED MIXES" notation.

I'd also venture that early CD versions had the non-remix, as does mine. Not sure about later CDs.

First, the un-remixed version:

No "mixed by credit", "A"-side of cool blue promo 12" (see above), printed 4:38, actual 4:28, 109.6 BPM throughout, at 0:35 background vocals sing "? those eyes" (can't make out first word) before the "I just freeze" line in the chorus, at 2:35 the tail end of the sax solo steps on the vocals in the chorus

I have the un-remixed version on the Man Of Colours CD (Chrysalis VK 41592, matrix DIDX 1899 11A3, "Made in U.S.A. - Digital Audio Disc Corp stamped into the inner hub), a Canadian CD called Hot Sounds (PolyTel, 1988) and on the promo-for-radio 50-CD sat called The "A" List (swaitek, 1994).

Then, the remix:

"Remixed by Michael Brauer for MHB Productions", designated as "Single Version" on "AA" side of cool blue promo 12" (see above), printed 4:23, actual 4:22, 109.9 BPM throughout on the 45 and the 12", 109.6 BPM on CD releases, at 0:35 background vocals sing "I just freeze" before the "I just freeze" line in the chorus, at 2:35 the tail end of the sax solo is mixed WAY down so not to compete with the vocals

The remix is what's on the 45 - Chrysalis VS4 43201, printed 4:23, actual 4:22, 109.9 BPM, "Mixed by Michael Brauer" credit on the label

I have the remixed version on the 45, the promo 12" ("Single Version"), a compilation from 1989 called Gold & Platinum Vol. 6 (Realm Records; made compilations for Columbia House, I think), and Time-Life's Sounds Of The Eighties - The Late '80s Take Two (Vol. 20 of the series) (1996).

And just for the record, the 12" version is also mixed by Michael Brauer, and the first vocals in the track, even before the first verse, are the full set of background vocals, so you can actually hear what lines were recorded for the song. For the 45 remix, Mr. Brauer just plucked a different line from the full set. Neat!

And also for the record, the song is co-written by John Oates. Yes, THAT John Oates. I don't know of any other extracurricular co-writing credits for Mr. Oates.

Edited by crapfromthepast

@kaqueno - PM sent.

This is one of those songs I didn't fully appreciate when it was popular. It's since grown into one of my all-time favorites. It should be noted that John
Oates not only co-wrote the song, but also provides some awesome falsetto backing vocals that really put this one over the top for me.

Marcelo - I sent you a PM.

Cheers,

-David

I tell you that I got a copy in wav format of the 7” Edit
From 12” Steve Thompson Dance Mix version.
There is no scan if the file is really a wav, I am not sure
of the origin of the file either, although the soulseek
user assured me that it came from the Maxi 12".
If any member would like to review the file, I will be
happy to send it, just let me know.