The Beat Bash – 15 May 2014


Download full-size

The Beat Bash – 15 May 2014

DOWNLOAD (Right click and save – 256 AAC, 105.3 MB, 52:24)

Head Like A Hole by Nine Inch Nails
Quite Unusual by Front 242
Breakaway by Big Pig
Join In The Chant by Nitzer Ebb
Strangelove by Depeche Mode
Keep On by Cabaret Voltaire
Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order
So In Love by OMD
The Promise by When In Rome
Hooked On Love by Dead Or Alive

“Omina, doke doe ominea…”

At one time I’d found an article on the web where the members of Big Pig gave the translation of that phrase, but for the life of me I can’t find it. Maybe it was Aboriginal in origin?

This week’s mix is back to basics. Sometimes I tend to over-think the tracks, but really, this is what a typical episode of the show sounded like. This is why we had an audience.

The Beat Bash – 6 March 2014


Download full-size

The Beat Bash – 6 March 2014

DOWNLOAD (Right click and save – 256 AAC, 107 MB, 53:54)

Love Me Like A Loaded Gun by Army Of Lovers
Russian Radio by Red Flag
Bombers In The Sky by Thompson Twins
Houseman by Voyou
Rock To The Beat by 101
Come Home With Me Baby by Dead Or Alive
Reach by Martini Ranch
No Name No Slogan by Acid Horse
Insect by Boxcar
Umsturz Jetzt by Robotiko Rejekto

“Oblivious eyes outside shall remain unenlightened…”

Once upon a time there was this thing called the Cold War. Particularly in the ’80s, the threat of an aggressive, nuke-holding Russia hung over everyone’s heads. Oh, wait…

The Beat Bash – 2 January 2014


Download full-size

The Beat Bash – 2 January 2014

DOWNLOAD (Right click and save – 256 AAC, 111 MB, 54:48)

Lover Come Back To Me by Dead Or Alive
I Need A Man by Eurythmics
Kooler Than Jesus by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
Fine Time by New Order
Get Real by Paul Rutherford
Behind The Wheel by Depeche Mode
Helter Skelter by Meat Beat Manifesto
Jetlag by Severed Heads
Freemason by Boxcar
Left To My Own Devices by Pet Shop Boys

“I was faced with a choice at a difficult age…”

And so we begin. The story of The Beat Bash runs parallel to my coming out, in that I had some inkling, but didn’t fully understand things until I got to college, where some slightly older and more experienced friends gave me guidance. My eyes (and ears) were opened to a whole new world, and I embraced it fully.

In this first episode I tried to sum up what The Beat Bash was really like. Dead Or Alive was (original co-host) Brian Parker’s favorite band, so they appeared in almost every show. New Order and Depeche Mode were the biggest names in alternative dance music at college radio, and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult was representative of the typical Wax Trax! Records sound. The Beat Bash is where I first heard Severed Heads and Meat Beat Manifesto, who became hugely influential on my own music (I have a Severed Heads tattoo on my left forearm). There’s also my beloved Pet Shop Boys, who were wildly successful everywhere in the world but the US, where they were beginning to move back underground.

Dead Or Alive – The 50 Pound Note “Rip It Up” 2006 Mix

Dead Or Alive – The 50 Pound Note Rip It Up 2006 Mix
(Original upload date 29 December 2006)

DOWNLOAD (103 MB, 192kbps, 1:14:47)

Your Sweetness (Is Your Weakness)
Brand New Lover (Dust Monkey’s Love Bubble Club Mix)
Hooked On Love (Razormaid Mix)
Love Toy (Instrumental)
In Too Deep
Come Home With Me Baby (Deadhouse Dub)
Lover Come Back To Me (Extended Remix)
My Heart Goes Bang (American Wipeout Mix)
Unhappy Birthday (12″ Remix)
You Spin Me Round (Razormaid Mix)
Something In My House (US Wipeout Mix Part 2)
Sex Drive (Direct Hit Mix) by Glam featuring Pete Burns
Turn Around & Count To 10 (Razormaid Mix)
I’ll Save You All My Kisses (The Sonia Mezumbda Memorial Mix)

Reworking Dead Or Alive’s Rip It Up album is something I’ve always wanted to do. While the material is unimpeachable the (at that time) state of the art digital edits were poorly timed and now sound very dated. In 2001 I started putting material together for a redo, and while this version isn’t as polished as what I’d envisioned, I’m still pretty happy with it.

When I had a regular DJ gig I was always frustrated with DOA’s remixes because they’re noisy and messy, making them difficult to mix in/out of. Even some of the edits crafted by Razormaid suffered from timing problems, so while I’ve listed the particular version of each track I used, nearly every one of them is actually my own edit.

Apart from the eight singles on the original album I’ve added six others: Turn Around & Count To 10 appeared on Nude in 1988 and was a #1 single in Japan for 17 consecutive weeks (The band has scored 17 #1 singles in Japan). Come Home With Me Baby was also on Nude, as was Love Toy, but Love Toy only appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese CD (and has never been available elsewhere). Your Sweetness (Is Your Weakness) and Unhappy Birthday first appeared on the Japanese-only album Fan The Flame (Part 1) in 1990, and while Unhappy Birthday subsequently appeared on Nukleopatra in 1995, Your Sweetness (Is Your Weakness) has never been available in the US. Sex Drive was written and produced by the Italian dance trio Glam in 1993, and was also included on Nukleopatra.

I call it a 3-way tie, but my favorite DOA tracks are Hooked On Love, My Heart Goes Bang, and Lover Come Back To Me.

When I first traveled to England at the age of 17 (summer of 1988) I had one of those yellow waterproof Walkmans with an auto-reverse feature, and I listened to Rip It Up on a loop for the entire trip. It was somewhat fitting then, when, on this last trip, my friend Laurance gave me the ornate, blue metallic paisley-covered shirt he wore to see the Youthquake tour in 1985.

Pete Burns has never been a man of tact. Read some of his quotes on the band’s Wikipedia page for a good laugh.

PS: I had DOA’s DVD Evolution: The Hits running in the background while working on this mix, and it’s obvious Pete was a fashion whore for Vivienne Westwood in the early days. In a TV appearance from 1980 he’s wearing one of her necklaces made from chicken bones, and in an appearance from 1982 he’s decked out head to toe in clothes from her Buffalo collection: oversized top hat, rags tied into his dreadlocks, a cardigan with buttons made from tin can lids – think Haysi Fantayzee, The Belle Stars, and “dressin’ like a hobo.”