Icehouse - "Electric Blue"
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5957
Printed Date: 07 June 2025 at 4:32am
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Topic: Icehouse - "Electric Blue"
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Subject: Icehouse - "Electric Blue"
Date Posted: 07 November 2010 at 11:48am
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This came up on the Steve Hoffman board, thanks to the shrewd ears from member voicebug.
First, I direct you to some http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showpost.php?p=5955294&postcount=29 - 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. |
Replies:
Posted By: kaqueno
Date Posted: 24 December 2023 at 12:13pm
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13 years after this post that Ron opened, I would like to
ask if anyone knows if the 7” Edit From 12” Steve Thompson Dance Mix version (4:10) was released on a CD, or if anyone has it ripped from vinyl and can send it to me privately for comparison, thanks. https://www.discogs.com/release/8265365-Icehouse-Electric- Blue ------------- Marcelo - Argentina https://www.mixcloud.com/marcelo-guzman4/ - https://www.discogs.com/user/kaqueno/collection |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 24 December 2023 at 9:20pm
| @kaqueno - PM sent. |
Posted By: kaqueno
Date Posted: 26 December 2023 at 7:46am
Thank you Mike for your contribution, unfortunately in the files you sent me there is not the version I am looking for. ------------- Marcelo - Argentina https://www.mixcloud.com/marcelo-guzman4/ - https://www.discogs.com/user/kaqueno/collection |
mjb50 wrote:Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 26 December 2023 at 8:01am
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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. |
Posted By: kaqueno
Date Posted: 26 December 2023 at 8:28am
I found the version I'm looking for, uploaded to YouTube by the user "Oreste Eduardo Calcagni", I leave the link so you can listen and compare, and if someone can send it to me in wav or flac format, I thank you in advance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjRvSrS1Gmg ------------- Marcelo - Argentina https://www.mixcloud.com/marcelo-guzman4/ - https://www.discogs.com/user/kaqueno/collection |
Posted By: davidlg1971
Date Posted: 26 December 2023 at 11:15am
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Marcelo - I sent you a PM.
Cheers, -David |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 27 December 2023 at 1:48am
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Marcelo, you're right; I thought you wanted the "ST Edit", as ripped by DjPaulT from a different promo 12", but that's not the same. Sorry I wasn't able to help. And apparently David sent you the same thing.
We talked in file-sharing land already about the lossless copy of the edit that's available there. Sadly, after taking a close look at the spectrogram in Audition, I see that it's actually from the same lossy source as the YouTube clip. Someone just processed it with one of those audio restoration plug-ins, adding harmonic distortion and noise. It may be subjectively "better" but it's not lossless. It might be possible to recreate the edit from pieces of the other Steve Thompson remixes. I tried briefly, but gave up when I couldn't locate one short section. I also wasn't entirely sure about the reverb and EQ. If we really want it that bad, one of us may just have to buy and transfer a copy of https://www.discogs.com/release/8265365-Icehouse-Electric-Blue - the 12" . Looking over Icehouse recordings in MusicBrainz, it seems doubtful that this version showed up anywhere but on that record. |
Posted By: kaqueno
Date Posted: 29 December 2023 at 10:12am
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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. ------------- Marcelo - Argentina https://www.mixcloud.com/marcelo-guzman4/ - https://www.discogs.com/user/kaqueno/collection |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 29 December 2023 at 8:57pm
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Marcelo - I checked it. It's the same as before (MP3 "restored" with a plug-in).
Spectrograms: • http://hyperreal.org/~mike/tmp/icehouse/CD.png - Truly lossless (equivalent clip from Extended Mix on CD) • http://hyperreal.org/~mike/tmp/icehouse/wav.png - Fake lossless found on file-sharing network (MP3 processed with restoration plug-in) • http://hyperreal.org/~mike/tmp/icehouse/YouTube.png - YouTube clip (AAC, probably transcoded from MP3) |
Posted By: kaqueno
Date Posted: 30 December 2023 at 8:26am
Great work Mike, thanks for your contribution, I will continue searching for the file. ------------- Marcelo - Argentina https://www.mixcloud.com/marcelo-guzman4/ - https://www.discogs.com/user/kaqueno/collection |